


Dark Abyss

by FizzyCorrupts



Category: Splatoon
Genre: A retelling of Octo Expansion with a horror twist, Chapter 6 has been revised, F/F, I place extra trigger warnings in those for chapters that need them, Please check chapter summaries, Reader discretion advised due to violence and other dark content, This fic is rated M for a reason, by gays for gays
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2019-11-16 01:16:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18084623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FizzyCorrupts/pseuds/FizzyCorrupts
Summary: An Octoling awakens in a place she doesn't know, only to get involved with a mysterious and sadistic individual calling himself "Ned." With the help of Agent 3 and Cap'n Cuttlefish, along with other allies, the newly christened "Agent 8" must survive horrifying tests and psychological torment in hopes of reaching the surface and living another day.(Based on Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion)





	1. Entering Darkness

_Darkness; something one becomes used to at the bottom of the ocean. Though...is this the bottom of the ocean? Or is it merely akin to it? There is sea life all around me, yet this life breathes air. It defies the logic of the world that came before, where there was a distinction between the sea and the earth. But now they blend so seamlessly together that I have lost all understanding of where the ocean ends and the land starts. I guess it could be said this is but the rambling of a fool, but I know I am not a fool. I have endured too long to be a fool. I am up amongst the greatest of minds, the most cunning of survivors, and the most powerful of men. Humanity would be proud of me._

_They would be proud of the blood I’ve spilled. I’ve spilled more than I ever did when they were alive. I’ve left my mark in the flesh of so many unassuming individuals. I’ve corrupted the insides of the weak into those of the strong. It’s exciting. I make them test like little lab rats. I make them find value in their life as I make it clear they could lose it at any moment. And then I rip it all away. My creator made me for this purpose, to bring out the misery in any of those that come my way, whether or not they deserved it. I feel a rush when I do my job. I know it’s just an arbitrary function meant to keep me going, but it’s truly euphoria. The love of testing is hard-coded into me, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. The love of seeing flesh ground to a pulp...I don’t know if my creator was a madman, but I know he made it so I’d love that the most._

_I can’t wait for the next subject to come._

\--

The Octoling’s eyes shot open as she sat up with a start. A delicious scent drifted towards her nostrils. Was that...fish? She looked down, noticing there was a small table set up in front of her. On the tray sat a plate which carried a small serving of baked cod. Beside the plate was a heavily rusted fork, which seemed to be flaking without even being touched, though that was probably her imagination. Her eyes drifted to her surroundings. She was in an empty train car, which despite being void of any other souls still felt cramped. Most of the seats were covered in stains of various colors, most commonly a reddish-brown or blue. Beneath the smell of the food in front of her was a faint scent of decay. She couldn’t think of exactly what it would be that was decaying, but the smell was clearly that of rot. She could feel the faint rumble of the train’s movement.

“A train? Looks a bit old to be one of ours,” She whispered to herself. “I wonder where it’s going. Maybe somebody will come along and tell me how I got here.” A sharp pain shot through her stomach and she heard a loud growl. Her thoughts drifted to the food in front of her. She was hungry as could be. Not trusting the fork at all, she picked up the cod with her hands. She stuffed the entire thing in her mouth at once. It was hotter than she was expecting, but she simply dealt with it. A burned mouth seemed better than going hungry.

“Do you need a drink, ma’am?”

“Huh?” She turned her head to a blue sea cucumber that slid in through one of the doors. He had a tentacle extended, wrapped around a glass of ice water.

“We cannot have you hungry and dehydrated.” The cucumber stated matter of factly. He approached her and held out the glass. “This has been measured to be the ideal amount of water intake for approximately three or so hours of intense activity.”

“I...thanks?” She took the glass from him and chugged the water down.

“Do you wish to chew on the ice? Or may I take back the glass?”

“I don’t chew ice, so you can have it back I guess.” She placed the glass down on the table in front of her. “Are you going to take all the rest of this stuff?”

“Affirmative.” He folded up the legs of the table and without another word carried it out of the train car.

“Wait!” The Octoling shouted, realizing he could tell her what she needed to know. It was too late, and he’d already left. “Cod dammit.”

The train pulled to a sudden stop. She clutched her seat, the force of the stop nearly being enough to throw her to the floor.

“We have arrived at Error Station,” An electronic voice started. “Please gather all belongings and vacate the vehicle. All those found on the train during work hours will be promptly-bzzzzt-” The voice was cut off by a loud buzz. She felt like whatever she didn’t get to hear was probably important.

All of the doors slid open, scraping loudly against their frames from years of disrepair. The Octoling stood up from her seat and took a deep breath. This couldn’t get any creepier, she hoped.

“Today’s trains are sponsored by Sponsor Not Found. Those at Sponsor Not Found wish you a good day.”

“Somebody needs to fix this train,” She muttered.

Outside of the train was a railway platform. The lighting was less than ideal, with some of the lights sparking and letting out loud sizzling noises. What lights were working were faint, likely not having been replaced for a long time. There were old snack machines sitting across the rails on one end, but there was no way to get to them without taking the chance of getting hit by a train. The same stains that covered the seats in the train were all over the floor in here, though in some spots the fluids still seemed fresh. A single spotlight in the center of the room was cast down upon a stool with a small black object on it.

“I guess I was wrong about it not getting creepier.” She approached the stool and sitting on it was an earpiece. Compared to the environment, this seemed to be brand new. It was similar to a military earpiece, though looked to be made of lower quality materials. A small piece of paper sat beneath it.

_Turn It On And We’ll Have A Good Time._

“...A good time? Right.” She picked up the earpiece, turning it on and placing it in her ear. Suddenly, small prongs shot out of it, anchoring it to the inside of her ear. She let out a yelp of pain, and nearly attempted to pull it free. The only thing that stopped her was the realization that would mean tearing off a whole chunk of her flesh.

There was the loud sound of feedback, causing her to softly hiss with discomfort. Then came the sound of someone clearing their throat. 

“Can you hear me? I can hear you. And see you. I can’t smell you though. Even the most modern of technology can’t do that yet.” A distorted voice uttered. Whoever it was seemed to have some sort of filter on. They sounded robotic. A soft buzz was in the background.

“Uh...I can hear you too.” She responded.

“Good! Good! I bet it must be such a relief to hear my pretty little voice,” They exclaimed. “I know my silky tones are beautiful, no need to tell me. Your voice though? Sounds like a cheese grater on steel.”

“H-hey-”

“I have a little job for you. I’ve got someone who would love to meet you, but he’s a little stuck. I need you to get him unstuck, if you catch my drift.” They let out a soft laugh. “You know, down here things can be pretty dangerous. I’ve got something special for you waiting on the train. It might not seem like much, but you’ll love it.”

“C-can you tell me who you are?” She asked, trembling.

“You can call me Ned. You don’t deserve to know who I really am yet. Not until you’ve proven yourself. But lemme tell you, we’re going to get along great until then. I’m a hell of a guy.”

“Proven myself?”

“Just fuck off already.” He said, venom in his voice. The buzzing cut out, leaving the Octoling once again in dead silence.

Unable to muster any words, she took a deep breath and returned to the train. On the seat she had been sitting before sat a combat knife and a small gun that resembled a pocket-sized Splattershot, a tube of ink connected to the top. She’d never seen a weapon like this before, looked like a children’s toy.

“What am I supposed to do with these?” She thought aloud.

“Well, there’s not many things you can really use a knife and a gun for that aren’t pretty obvious.”

The Octoling turned to see an Inkling sitting in one of the chairs, drinking a glass of water. She was wearing a black leather crop top with only one long sleeve, on her right arm. She also had on a leather skirt and a pair of black high heel boots with steel bases. The Octoling realized at that moment she was wearing the same thing...She’d deal with that later.

“You another weirdo that’s going to give me trouble?”

“Well, if you consider information trouble, then I guess so.” The Inkling finished her water and threw the glass against the wall. It was not as cool looking as she’d hoped.

“Well that was something, but I wouldn’t call it informative.”

“I-I um…” Her face went red with embarrassment. “W-whatever! Let’s just get all of this over with.”

“Sure, go ahead.” The Octoling took a seat. “But I better get something useful out of you quick or I’m gonna tune you out right quick.”

“Well let’s see about this.” She cleared her throat. “I’m pretty sure you’re Subject 10,008, if my estimates are correct. You’ve been brought here for something, but I’m not exactly sure what.”

“Wow, very informative. Do you know my name or anything? Cause that’d be helpful information.”

“Well, you see...no.”

“Alright, tuning you out now.”

“Wait! How about we give you a new name in the meantime? Like uh...Lorraine!”

“Sounds like a terrible name.”

“You know what? Let’s just call you...Agent 8. Something like that I guess. I’m Agent 3, you’re Agent 8. Makes things simple.”

“Agent 3? What are you, some sort of secret agent?”

“Yeah.”

“...” The Octoling sighed. “Agent 8 it is.”

“Alright, good. We’ve got that settled.” Agent 3 took a deep breath. “Now getting back on track, have you gotten your earpiece yet?”

“Yeah, it stuck itself in my ear. And some guy who sounds like he’s not left his mother’s basement since he was born started talking to me.”

“That guy is the one in charge of this place. He only says his name is Ned, nothing else. The man accompanying me here got the same introduction. When he introduced himself to me, he sounded impatient. Must have been very excited to talk to you, didn’t want to deal with me for too long.”

“What makes me so special?” 8 asked, carefully examining the gun she’d been given in the meantime.

“You really think I know? I’m in this just like you are. I was just following some intel on disappearances in the region. Never thought it’d come to this. He seems intent on making his test subjects do miserable things, as I’ve sadly found out.”

“Such as?”

“Well, there’s a reason he gave you weaponry. I’ll leave it at that.” 3 stared down at the floor.

“Why won’t you say what’s going to happen?”

“Because if I do, you might panic. You won’t want to move forward. We can’t have that if we want to get out of here.”

“...Okay.”

The doors of the train closed. The train started to rumble as it began to slowly build speed.

“The train is now departing for Fake Plastic Station. Make sure all valuables are on your person. If you’ve missed initial departure, another train will come along later and you will be taken to the Disciplinary Division.” The announcer said through the speakers. “If you have purposefully missed the train or leave the train mid-transit, you will be thrown into a rail line currently in use. No exceptions will be made to the rules.”

“Ah.” Agent 8 really hoped she misheard that.

“Oh yeah, so don’t hang around the train too long.” Agent 3 stated.

“Yeah, I know. The announcement got cut off earlier though. Do you know what the punishment is?”

“Death by firing squad, apparently.”

“Fun.” Despite her attempt at sarcasm, 8 couldn't keep the fear out of her voice. She was quaking in her seat, unable to really grasp the situation she was in.

“You’ll be okay, I promise,” 3 said, smiling. “I’m scared too. But we’re both strong. We’ve got this.”

“Y-yeah.” 8 nodded. “This is just a lot, you know?”

“And honestly, it’s going to get worse. But you can power through this.” 3 stood up from her chair and came to sit next to 8. “You’re an Agent now, because I said so. And being an Agent means you can take on any challenge that comes your way.”

“I just met you, but I can already tell you’re a dork.” 8 giggled. “That’s the cheesiest speech I’ve ever heard.”

“I try.” She grinned.

“We are now arriving at Fake Plastic Station. Will Subject 10,008 please come to the platform?” The announcer asked.

“I...guess this is mine,” 8 stated. “Will I see you again?”

“Totally!” 3 responded excitedly.

“O-okay! I’ll see you around!” 8 stood up from her seat and made her way to the door, which slid open with its already-familiar screech.

“Good luck!” 3 shouted.

“Thank you!” 8 shouted back. The door immediately slammed shut behind her the second she climbed off the train. The train sped off without a second to spare. “...Guess I’m not getting back that way.”

The blue sea cucumber sat there on the small square platform. He stared at 8 in silence for a few moments. She returned his stare with discomfort.

“Ned has informed me this is your first test. So I will explain the rules to you. If you disobey the rules, you will be sent to the Disciplinary Division. I am your helpful CQ Cumber, at your service.”

“T-thank you. So what’s this Disciplinary Divi-”

“For your first test, you will be entering a gauntlet. There will be others inside who you must dispatch.”

“Dispatch? You mean like knocking them out or someth-”

“You must use the tools at your disposal with the utmost care and confidence. Cod is watching, and if you die you’re going to Hell.”

“H-hell?!”

“Have you received your Kamabo-certified Splattershot Mini? You can’t test without it.”

“Is that the gun?” Agent 8 asked, then paused. “Splattershot doesn’t really sound like a good name for a knife, now that I think about it.”

“That gun is going to be your most important tool. Now let me explain how it works. You might have noticed the patented Kamabo Air Tech, registered trademark of Kamabo, pump on the back of it. This gun does not fire automatically, you must pull back the pump and pull the trigger afterwards. This fires a compressed high-velocity shot, strong enough to pierce flesh.”

“P-pierce what now?!” 8 yelled in distress.

“The knife will be used for close combat situations. It has been sharpened to a fine edge, so as to easily pierce flesh.”

“You’re saying things about piercing flesh, what am I going to have to do?!”

“Dispatch the targets,” He said in a low, matter of fact tone. “Now!” He returned to his more upbeat tone. “Let’s begin the test. If you leave the test area, you will be shot on sight. If you do not meet the test requirements and attempt to leave through the goal point, you will be shot on sight. If you bring unauthorized food or drink into the test, you will be shot on sight. If you complain about the rules during the test, you will be shot on sight. If you kill another test subject, you will be fined.”

“I get it.” 8 responded, sick to her stomach at this point.

“Walk through the small gate. The test will begin as soon as you do. Try not to make too much of a mess, I work hard to clean these floors.”

“Um...sure.”

She walked over to the gate on the other side of the platform. With a sigh, she stepped through it. A soft buzz came from her earpiece.

“It’s me.” Ned greeted her. “Did you miss me?”

“S-sure.”

“Have you ever hurt someone before, 10,008?” He asked cheerfully.

“I-I guess so.” She answered.

“Good. Cause I’m gonna make you hurt a lot of people tonight. Nice to know you’ve got experience. Make them pop for me, okay?”

“O-okay.” She wanted to say no, but at this point she was afraid of being shot on sight.

“I’ve got a bit of confidence music ready for ya. It’s by an in-studio DJ. They’re really good at their job, though I make sure of that. All of the music was personally curated by me.”

“Super.” Agent 8 responded sarcastically.

“Have fun!” The buzzing cut out once more, replaced immediately by the soft sounds of a small orchestra.

“Yeah, unnerving classical music is what I call a confidence boost.” She whispered to herself. She looked up at her surroundings, what looked like a small forest. The trees were glistening, like they were made of plastic. She took a few steps forward, before suddenly stopping in place when she noticed somebody peeking out from behind one of the trees. They seemed to be an Octoling. They were unmoving, almost like a mannequin. “Must be what they meant by Fake Plastic.” She guessed, assuming the Octoling was a prop. “Looks pretty lifelike though.”

8 approached the Octoling and noted that it had a strange green color to its skin and a blue tone to its tentacles, which ended in green tips. It seemed to be dressed like a soldier, armor and glasses and all.

“Wow, this must have taken forever to make.” She reached a hand forward to touch the mannequin. Suddenly the “mannequin” sprang to life, grabbing her arm and pulling her forward. With their other arm, they held up a knife of their own and jabbed it into her left shoulder. She screamed in pain, tearing her arm away from the Octoling and kicking them to the ground. She looked at the knife embedded in her shoulder, eyes wide. “W-what the fuck?”

“Target acquired. Seek and destroy.” The Octoling uttered in a completely monotone voice, rising up from the ground.

“Oh shit.” 8 muttered, pulling the Splattershot Mini from her waist and pointing it at the Octoling. “H-hey, don’t come any closer! I _will_ shoot.”

The Octoling did not heed the warning, rushing forward towards her. 8 pulled the trigger, but realized she hadn’t pulled back the pump. As she attempted to do so, the Octoling tackled her to the ground. They gripped the knife tightly and pulled it out from her shoulder. They raised their arm and attempted to bring the knife down, but 8 caught their arm by the wrist.

“Get off me!” 8 yelled, pushing the Octoling away and scrambling to her feet. She picked her gun off of the floor, immediately pulling the pump back. The Octoling climbed to their feet and stared at 8, drool escaping their mouth. They lunged forward once more, but 8 pulled the trigger and shot a burst of ink at them. A large chunk of the Octoling’s head was taken away by the force of the shot, causing them to collapse to the ground. They did not so much as twitch after their demise, going immediately still.

8 felt bile rise up into her throat, she dropped her gun and dashed over to one of the trees. She threw up behind it. Tears ran down her face. She was breathing heavily.

“Ah, so you’re finally here.” A voice greeted her from above. She looked up to see an elderly Inkling sitting atop one of the trees. He was in the same leather getup as 8 and 3, except with pants instead of a skirt and shorter heeled boots.

“A-are you the one who was waiting for me?” She asked, confused as could be.

“Did Inklings win the Great Turf War?” He responded.

“I mean, yeah.”

“I am Captain Craig Cuttlefish of the Squidbeak Splatoon. You may have heard of me. But probably not.” He stated, sliding down the tree trunk. 

“You’re...really old.” 8 observed. “I-why are you testing here, if this is what we’re dealing with?”

“Well I didn’t have a choice. This Ned guy really likes to make people test, it seems. But I have friends up above, they should be coming to help us eventually. I’ve been trying to get in contact with them, but my granddau- I mean contacts won’t answer.”

“So, do you know Agent 3?”

“Of course I do! Almost like a daughter to me. I taught her everything she knows. Except the hygiene thing didn’t ever settle with her.”

“H-hygiene?” 8 asked, a hint of discomfort in her voice.

“Oh she’s a nice girl, and she’s not that filthy. But ya know, sometimes people forget. And she forgets a lot.”

“That doesn’t sound like forgetting. That sounds like depression.” 8 stated.

“Well that’s not the point of this conversation.”

“Then why did you bring it up?”

“I don’t know. I’m getting old, I guess. I ramble a lot. Pushing about a hundred and thirty at this point.”

“A hundred and what now?”

“Old.” He responded.

“A hundred and old. Sounds about right.”

“So uh, how about that stab wound?” Cuttlefish asked, pointing to it.

“O-oh, right. I was sort of...trying not to die. And in the adrenaline rush I forgot about it.” She was silent for a moment. She wished she’d still forgotten about it, cause remembering it was there brought about the pain. “Fuck!”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this.” Cuttlefish took a small box from his waist. “I came prepared.” He removed gauze, water and rubbing alcohol from it, along with a pair of tweezers.. “Come here, kid.”

She sat patiently as the man cleaned her wound and dressed it with the gauze. She was glad that the people she’d met so far were mostly helpful. Otherwise, this would be hell.

“So, what brings you here?” He asked politely.

“I don’t know. I literally don’t know, as in I don’t remember anything.”

“Ah, that’s fine. If you don’t know, you don’t know. Not gonna help us to pry into that matter right now. What matters is we get through this and that we’re safe.”

“So uh, why was that Octoling trying to kill me?”

“Beats me. They seem to work for him, Ned I mean. I saw more up ahead, so we might have to deal with that.”

“Alright, I’m game.” 8 felt scared. She’d never, at least she hoped, had to kill anyone before.

“Wound should be good now,” Cuttlefish stated. “So you ready to get started on this thing?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.” She answered. She stood up and looked toward the rest of the test. She knew this was going to be hard. There was a pit in her stomach. Her hearts felt like they were about to explode. But she was going to do this. She wanted to see Agent 3 again after all. Didn’t want to keep her waiting.


	2. Escape Plan

_I work myself to the bone day after day to ensure that these tests are perfect in every way. My blood and tears make their way into every last tile. Every last obstacle. Every last demise. In a way, I test myself. I find new and more efficient ways to make my tests better and better with every new run. I made my greatest discovery the other day._

_The bodies of these cephalopods, specifically those derived from octopi, are surprisingly...interesting. I used an old machine to grind one to a fine pulp, and discovered that the goo that resulted still seemed to show life signs. I meticulously sculpted the remnants into a form that resembled its previous appearance. It congealed and hardened into a state that left behind what could be called a living individual._

_However, it had no drive. No thoughts. Anything I told it, it would listen. Anything I ordered, it would follow. It was naught but an obedient husk for me to use however I see fit. And if I may be honest?_

_I couldn’t have been happier._

\--

8 peeked around a tree, keeping her eyes set on a single Octoling sitting on the ground. They stared off into space, staying motionless. They bobbed their head slowly, as if keeping with some sort of beat. 

“You think that one’s alone?” She whispered to Cap’n Cuttlefish, who was struggling to get a pebble out of one of his boots.

“Oh, huh?” He was snapped out of his focus and turned his head to her. “If I remember correctly there were about three other Octolings in this test. Chances are high this may be a trap. Pretty common enemy tactic back in the war; leave a vulnerable individual as the bait and spring an ambush.”

“So what should I do?” 8 asked, pulling back the pump on her Splattershot Mini. “You think I should take a shot from here? Draw the others out?”

“No. They might be expecting that too. Hell, I don’t even know if these things are thinking at all, but we can’t take chances. I remember the cucumber told me there was another weapon somewhere in here. Maybe if we can find it, we can use it to get past them.”

“Tell me, old man, where would a weapon be hiding in here?”

“Well, we could start over there.” Cuttlefish pointed to a pile of crates sitting in the corner close to the entry gate. 

8 stared at him in confusion for a moment. “You really think they’d hide it in such an obvious place?” She thought about it and realized that’s exactly where the weapon would be hidden. A convenient location. Ned was watching, she assumed, so he’d probably want things to escalate to intense violence as soon as possible.

“Well we won’t know unless we try.” Cuttlefish stated, stroking his beard.

“Alright then, I’ll go check it out. Though don’t you think the sound might alert the Octolings?”

“They don’t seem to attack until you’re in their area of sight. I remember when I was crying on top of the tree, none of them even came to check it out.” Cuttlefish admitted, not sounding his proudest.

“You instill me with confidence,” 8 responded sarcastically. She walked over to one of the crates and proceeded to shoot it open with her Splattershot. She peered in through the hole she’d made. Empty. “Alright, this one was a dud.” She whispered before moving on to the next crate. Empty. The third crate followed suit. As empty as the rest. There was one more to open, and she hoped this hadn’t been for nothing.

As the crate was broken open by the force of her shot, she saw something glisten inside. Finally, she thought. She brushed aside the debris and pulled out an N-Zap ‘87. She hadn’t seen this weapon before, but she figured it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out. 

“Oh, one of those,” Cuttlefish shouted from afar. “Where I’m from, that’s considered a weapon of scum. Should work fine here though.”

“What does it do?” 8 asked, holding the oversized pistol in her hands. “It’s shaped like a handgun, but it’s so large. Seems inconvenient.”

“Well when you hold down the trigger, it shoots rapidly. Has amazing accuracy and range too.” Cuttlefish responded. “If you have the reaction time, you could take out a whole team with no effort.”

“Well, no better time to find out than right now.” 8 stated, taking cover behind the tree once again. “On the count of three, I’m going to run out and take the shot. Promise you won’t panic like old people usually do.”

“I wish I could promise that.”

“Okay. One...Two…” She paused. She was hesitating. Until now, she was so sure she could do this. But suddenly, the fear of death overcame her. What if she did this and was executed without a second thought by these mooks? She shook her head. This wasn’t the time to think about that. “...Three!”

She rushed out from behind cover, inking a trail along the ground leading to the Octoling. Turning into octopus form, she swam as fast as she could towards her opponent. She leapt from the ink and morphed back into her Octoling form, taking aim and pulling the trigger before the enemy could react. They were overcome by the rapid fire of the weapon, and soon popped into a large burst of cyan ink. Small pieces of Octoling flesh seemed to be mixed into the fluid, and the puddle that was left behind reeked of rotting meat. The music in 8’s ear cut out and was replaced by the familiar soft buzz that came with Ned’s voice.

“Your kind reminds me of balloons. You can’t take too much pressure or you...pop!” Ned said, euphoria in his voice. “It’s so exciting. I really can’t get enough of it. Do it more for me, okay?” He did not allow for 8 to respond, the broadcast immediately cutting back to classical music.

“...Fucking freak,” 8 whispered. She waited for the other Octolings to arrive, like Cuttlefish had suggested would occur. But they didn’t come. “Well that was anticlimactic.”

“Kid, I’ve come to believe there was no ambush after all!” Cuttlefish announced.

“Yeah I can see that, Captain Obvious.”

“But I know there are definitely more ahead. We have to remain vigilant! I didn’t remain vigilant back in the war, and look what happened to me.”

“What happened to you?” 8 asked, vaguely concerned for the old man’s wellbeing.

“Absolutely nothing.” He responded, pride in his voice.

“What a coincidence, that’s exactly what you are.” She stated, sticking her tongue out at him. The old coot had smarts, but he didn’t seem to be all there when she needed it.

“Hey, don’t insult me like that. I’ve been on this planet for one hundred and thirty years.”

“One hundred and thirty years of absolutely nothing.”

“...” He looked to the floor.

“Wait, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it!” She exclaimed, afraid she’d hurt his feelings.

“What was that?” He looked up to her. “I was just wondering when I last ate.”

“O-oh. It’s nothing.” She sighed with relief. “We need to keep moving.”

“You know what they say!” He paused.

“...What do they say?”

“I hoped you’d know.”

“Okay.” 8 had to resist the urge to slam her head against a tree with lethal force.

The two of them continued through the test chamber, coming to a large clearing. In the middle of the clearing sat another Octoling. They wore a smile on their face, almost sadistic in nature. 8 didn’t want to think there was any actual emotion behind that smile though. The less she saw them as people, the better.

“They’re like the rest. Predictable bunch, ain’t they?” Cuttlefish took a few steps towards the Octoling.

“Wait, what are you doing idiot?!” 8 rushed forward to pull him back, but the Octoling had already climbed to their feet. The Octoling reared their head back and let out a loud high-pitched screech. In shock, 8 pointed the N-Zap at them and dealt a killing blow as fast as she could manage.

“That can’t be good,” Cuttlefish stated. “Usually when things scream, it’s never good.”

“Targets acquired. Deploying Inkjet.”

“Deploying what now? Captain, did you say that?”

“No, I’ve been quieter than my text log from my granddaughters,” He laughed. “I think it came from above us.”

“A-above us?” 8’s voice trembled.

Cuttlefish and 8 turned their heads upwards to see an Octoling clinging to the ceiling. They had their head turned one hundred and eighty degrees to face the two. A large tube hung down from a backpack-like structure that seemed to be screwed into their back. The tube, at the other end, seemed to lead down their throat. Two pipes attached to the backpack began to rumble and streams of ink began to spray out of them. They turned their head the right way round and dropped from the ceiling, coming to hover over the ground. A large gun was clutched in one of their hands.

“No sir, don’t like that.” 8 stated. “Run.”

“Already on it.” Cuttlefish responded, walking like his life depended on it.

“Oh come the fuck on!” 8 shouted, picking the old man up and rushing to place him behind one of the trees. “Now stay here like a good kid.”

“Alright.” He responded.

8 emerged from cover and turned to face the Octoling, who let out a high-pitched laugh. They raised their gun and fired a large ink shot straight at her. With all of the speed she could muster, she dodged out of the way. She hissed in pain as some of the ink splashed onto her.

“You’re going to be an annoying little shit aren’t you?” 8 sighed, holding up her N-Zap. “Well I think you need some discipline. Meet Mr. Gun.”

“Mr. Gun?” Ned’s voice flowed from her earpiece. “That’s so fucking lame, kiddo.”

“Can people stop calling me kid?! I’m sixteen years old!” 8 yelled, stomping her foot on the ground.

“That’s a kid to me, pal.” Ned responded. “Also, might want to not die right now.”

“Wait, what?” 8 looked up to see a large glob of ink coming straight for her. She dodged out of the way of the shot, barely managing to escape the strike zone. This time, she was unscathed. “Fucker!”

“I’m really proud of this model. I remember when this one came here to test. Died in this very room, so I thought as a reward I’d make her into something special.” Ned stated, chuckling softly. “When you suck so hard you die right out of the gate, I can only take pity on you.”

“What the fuck do you mean ‘make her into something special?!’” 8 asked with pure fear in her voice. “You’re making these things?!”

“Maaaaybe.” He responded happily. “But I’ll leave you to find out later. Can’t spoil all my plot twists right out the gate.”

“Oh fuck you.”

“No, fuck you.” Ned’s voice cut out.

The Octoling geared up to take another shot, but 8 took initiative and quickly inked a trail along the ground. Once they took the shot, she dived into the ink and swam out of the way as fast as she could. She emerged from the ink, almost to the confusion of the enemy. They whipped around towards her.

“Enemy relocated.” They stated in a monotone voice. “Opening f-”

“Screw you, bitch!” 8 yelled, tossing the N-Zap aside and taking hold of her Splattershot Mini. She pulled the pump back and leaped into the air towards them, making contact between the barrel and the Octoling’s torso. She pulled the trigger, blasting a hole through their body. She was immediately coated in the Octoling’s bodily fluids, which didn’t much concern her at the moment. She landed on the ground, breathing heavily.

“Jumping through the air like a shooting star! With skill like yours we’re sure to get far!” Cuttlefish sang as he climbed out from behind the tree. “Wrote those lyrics myself, ya know.”

“Could use some work, but I like how they’re coming along.” She said, a smile on her face.

“Test complete. Please proceed to the goal platform and board the exit train.” The announcer’s voice boomed from the test room speakers. “If the train is not boarded within ten minutes, all occupants of the test chamber will be shot on sight.”

“Again with this shot on sight bullshit.” 8 sighed. “Alright, old dude, let’s go.”

“Wait, I need to tell you something first!” Cuttlefish exclaimed. “That skill you displayed, it is on par with that of an Agent! If I may, I wish to christen you Agent 4!”

“...Uh...That Agent 3 girl already sorta called me Agent 8. A cute girl gave me a name and I didn’t know what to do!” 8 immediately covered her mouth, her face going red.

“What’d you just call her?” Cuttlefish asked in surprise.

“A girl.” She lied through her beak.

“I can’t believe it though. Agent 8? Was there four other agents I didn’t know about?” He almost seemed ready to cry. “Nobody tells me anything!”

“B-buddy, I’m sorry about your personal life. You know, we do need to get going though.”

“You’re right. We must be on our way. I’ll find Agent 3 myself and yell at her later!” He declared.

“I can’t believe you’re her contact, to be honest.” 8 stated as the two started their trek to the goal. “I was expecting like, maybe some pop star secret agent or something. You know, like in one of those dumb novels?”

“Octolings got stuff like that?” He asked, a soft laugh escaping his lips. “I didn’t think they would.”

“I don’t remember much, but I remember reading some crappy book called ‘Amber and the Secret of the Mist,’ or some shit like that. The main character was like, some soldier who made friends with a famous DJ, and they went on adventures.”

“That’s fascinating. I guess they have to keep the kids busy somehow.”

“I have these little recollections of things like that. None of the important stuff, but honestly it makes me happy to remember something. Even if it’s just a terrible book.” 8 stated, scratching the back of her head.

“What else do you remember? If it’s not prying too much, I mean.”

“Oh, I remember eating calaaaaa- pie.” She gulped.

“Oh don’t worry, on the surface we squids also eat calamari.” He laughed heartily.

“You eat what now?” She stared at him with distress in her eyes.

“It’s pretty normal. We eat fried octopus too.”

“O-oh?” 8 was unnerved.

Ahead, CQ Cumber waited on a small platform. He was holding a party horn, which he blew into as a few pieces of confetti sprinkled down from the ceiling.

“I apologize. Our confetti reserves are running low, so we must conserve it as best we can.” The cucumber stated. “Congratulations on completing your first test. You have proven yourself a worthy test subject. You have also salvaged Subject 10,006. You will receive no reward save for my thanks.”

“T-thanks?” 8 tried her best to simply walk past him and onto the train.

“Ned has ordered us to discontinue the dispensing of Mem Cakes after tests. We apologize for this inconvenience, as you have already been subjected to the memory erasure procedure. There is no way to salvage your memories, so we at Kamabo hope you will make great new ones here.” He blew into the party horn once again. “You will find a meal waiting for you on the train. Your meal during this break period will be...a cheeseburger.”

“That’s surprisingly normal.” 8 remarked.

“It is made with artificial beef. I can not legally tell you what it is made of, for fear of a lawsuit.”

“I’ll uh...keep that in mind.” She said, climbing onto the train.

“That cheeseburger better taste good or that’ll be when I sue.” Cuttlefish remarked as he followed 8 onto the train.

“Have a nice day.” CQ stated. The train doors slammed shut, leaving him behind.

“Cod, that guy creeps me out.” 8 whispered to herself.

“Water, ma’am?” 8 looked to the ground. CQ Cumber was there holding a glass of ice water.

“What the fuck?” She said out loud. She’d intended that to be a thought.

“Congratulations on passing your first test.” CQ blew into a party horn. 8 snatched the glass of water from him and speed walked over to the other end of the car. She noticed Agent 3 asleep in one of the seats, a large tear newly formed in her sleeve.

“What happened to her?” 8 whispered to herself, sitting beside the sleeping Agent. She light nudged 3, hoping to wake her up.

“G-grandma is that you?” 3 stated, her eyes refusing to open. “I don’t want to go to band practice.”

“Band practice?” 8 laughed. “Wow, dorkier by the second.”

“Let me handle this.” Cuttlefish said, walking over to Agent 3. He picked up a magazine off of the floor and rolled it into a tube, holding it up to his mouth. “Get up lazy bones, we have a mission to complete!” He yelled, his voice amplified.

“Oh god I left my tuba at home!” 3 yelled, waking up. “...Oh, hey guys. It’s great to see you Cap’n.” She was understandably upset.

“Agent 3, I have rendezvoused with Agent 8. She said you were cute!” Cuttlefish exclaimed. 

“How dare you. I trusted you. And you have betrayed me.” 8 stated in monotone.

“She said I was what now?” 3 looked at 8, her face turning red. _Oh my god she says that too, she’s perfect,_ 8 thought. 

“I uh...so anyways onto the mission.” 8 was trying to avoid all embarrassment possible. It was too late for that, but she was trying anyway.

“Agent 3, were you injured? There is battle damage to your clothing!” Cuttlefish pointed to the tear.

“Uh yeah, sure.” 3 said. “I fought um...a three headed monster with claws the size of minivans.”

“Wow, how brave!” Cuttlefish exclaimed, a tear running down his cheek. “I knew I could rely on you, Agent 3.”

“T-thanks.” 3 was unsure if Cuttlefish was in the right mind to be a leader. He seemed to know what he was doing most of the time, so she hoped the man had not lost what marbles he’d still had in his pouch. At this moment, she also noticed the tight leather clothes Cuttlefish had been given as well. Agent 3 was upset.

The train came to a sudden screeching halt. CQ blew into his party horn.

“The train is in need of sudden maintenance,” He announced. “Stay calm, nothing will board the train during this stop.”

“That’s an oddly specific warning.” 8 stated, taking a nervous sip of water.

“Well if something boards the train, I’ll kick its ass.” 3 boasted.

“You couldn’t kick a can if it was right in front of you.” A sea angel sitting on the train with them stated.

“Hey, don’t talk to her like that! How would you know that?!” 8 snapped. “It’s not like you’re following her around and watching her every move, so how about you shut the fuck up and sit your ass down?”

“...” The sea angel scooted a few seats down.

“That seemed like a bit much. I didn’t really care what he had to say.” 3 laughed.

“Defensive?! I wasn’t being defensive!” 8 yelled.

“No one said you were, except you.” 3 patted the Octoling on the head.

“Fuck off.” 8 whispered, pouting. She took a sip of water.

“Ah, young love. Always nice to see it bloom.” Cuttlefish stated.

The water was on the floor now. 8 had spit it out in shock.

“I’m going to have a heart attack.” She whispered to herself, holding her head in her hand.

“Not before I do.” Cuttlefish joked.

“Personally I want to go out being crushed by a steamroller,” 3 stated, grinning. “I’ve always been curious what it’s like, honestly.”

“That’s a little worrying.” 8 took another sip of water, trying to stay calm.

“That’s how my friend Reginald went out. You think you know a guy until he expresses his sudden desire to die by steamroller.” Cuttlefish laughed. The Agents were not amused.

“...You’re kidding, right?” The Agents asked in unison.

“Yeah.” Cuttlefish nodded. His deadpan delivery was just that good.

“Never been a fan of gallows humor, myself.” 8 said, letting out a sigh. “Always comes off as a bit too mean-spirited for my tastes.”

The three were silent for a moment.

“I’m going to go to one of the other cars and get some quick rest. My age is catching up with me.” Cuttlefish said. “I hope you don’t mind me leaving you two alone.”

“Not at all.” They both responded. Their eyes widened as they realized this was the second time they’d spoken at once. Their faces both went red.

“Alright, I’ll see you when I see you.” He waved goodbye to them as he walked into the next cart.

“...So what do we do now that we’re alone?” 8 asked.

“Oh, you know.” 3 giggled softly.

“I think this might be moving a bit fast. I’m not sure if I’m ready for-”

“It’s time to plan for our mission! I know the next station you’re going to be going to is Roll Out Station.” 3 announced excitedly, holding up a map. “I was just at that one, so I can give you a tip. You’re only allowed to use your knife. It’s like a test of stealth.”

“O-oh.” 8 was listening, but she felt decidedly embarrassed after her previous assumption.

“So I’ll be real with you, I lied about the three headed monster. I ripped my sleeve on a nail sticking out of a crate. Don’t ask me how I ripped leather with a loose nail, I don’t know either.”

“Okay.” She was sure at this point that 3 was the most beautiful dumbass she’d ever met. Not that she’s met many people at this point.

“Hopefully Cap’n’s contacts will reach us soon. They’re attempting to hack into the earpiece signals as we speak. I’m synched to his messages on my communication device.” She pulled a phone-like contraption from her belt. “This is a CQ-80. I can use it for communication purposes. It seems to have a built in connection to the Deep Sea Metro systems, but whatever functions it had seem to have been disabled. Most importantly, a map function that allows us to choose which station to stop at. Maybe we can get it working again, so we’re not at the mercy of the automated schedule.”

“Uh huh.” 8 nodded. She had almost no idea what 3 was going on about. “Do you know who these contacts are?”

“Well they were supposed to be Agents 1 and 2, but they seem to be busy at the moment. Not sure what they’re up to though. So instead we’re getting help from two others. Apparently one of them is a master with electronics. The other one is a disappointment, if Agent 2 is to be believed.”

“Ah.” 8 nodded again. _Best to just roll with it,_ she thought. At this point, she just liked hearing this girl talk. “Okay I think I got it. But just in case...tell me the whole thing again, I wasn’t listening.”

“...” 3 felt strongly attracted to this fellow dumbass.

“I-I’m just kidding.” 8 laughed weakly. _Please don’t be mad at me,_ 8 hoped.

“Honestly, you scared me for a second.” 3 sighed. “Now listen, if you receive the initial transmission from the contacts, let me know immediately. We cannot afford to spare any time.”

“Not even to kiiiiiiiieeeep planning?” 8 was smooth as a freshly laid patch of gravel. As in, not at all.

“Well obviously we can keep planning. Also are you okay? You drew that word out weirdly long.”

“I’m fine.” 8 responded. She was not fine. She felt like her hearts were going to collapse.

“So I’m going to go see if there’s a bathroom on this thing. Before we came here, I drank a sixty two ounce soda.”

“S-sixty two?!”

“Yeah, I’m not very smart.” 3 dashed out of the train car, moving like she had a meeting to get to.

You can say that again, 8 thought. She hated to admit it, but she was crushing hard. She was already thinking of things they could do together after they got out of here. They could go sit in a field together. They could swim in a tar pit. They could go to some sort of slime church. 8 had never been to the surface before, and it showed. Maybe she’d wait to plan out a date once she knew what was actually on the surface. Yeah, that’d be smart.

Suddenly, loud feedback rang out from 8’s earpiece. She clutched her ear and screamed in pain, falling out of her seat and onto the floor. As the feedback settled down, a high pitched woman’s voice became audible.

“Yo, anyone there?”


	3. Atrocity in G Minor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Contains erotic imagery and allusion to being owned by others. (These topics are not in relation to the main protagonists.)

_The other day, Subject 10,000 did not make it to the train on time. This hasn’t happened in so long. I thought my promises of punishment kept them obedient and on my schedule. But here she was, throwing a wrench into my carefully laid plans. You were supposed to be on your way to testing. Not dozing on the floor at the platform. The conductor attempted to wake you, but you simply shooed him away and returned to your slumber. An emotion I hadn’t felt in such a great span of time suddenly filled my soul. Anger. That’s what it was. I couldn’t handle seeing someone so carefree. I needed to put a stop to this._

_I decided a disobedient subject such as this deserved a punishment of the highest magnitude. I had a special train come by and pick her up, under the guise of being one of the standard trains that would arrive at the platform. She was fed a final meal of eggs and rice, specially prepared so that she would slip into unconsciousness. The conductor dragged her from the train and brought her to my quarters. It was there that the fun began._

_She awoke suddenly to the pain of staples entering her lower legs. I had simply intended to secure the straps on her prosthetics to her flesh, so that they would not hang loosely. 10,000 went on and on about how, aside from the pain, she could not feel her legs. That she could not move them. I explained that I had administered some powerful numbing agents, and that for now she was not in control of her lower body. She then thrashed in place hopelessly, her hands bound and her body fastened down to the table. The echoes of her screams filled the room as I drilled through her ankle to make sure this new extension of herself was fully in place. I proceeded to repeat the process on her other leg. Her raised voice was graining on the ears, but yet I persevered so I could feel the absolute ecstasy._

_I soon adhered a mechanical device to her lower body, located around the crotch region. Attached to it were two long, thin rear-facing limbs for enhanced locomotion purposes. The device contained a wireless control unit. After threading some wires and other such things into her body, I had full control over her movement. Just a few extra adjustments, and she’d be perfect._

\--

“Yo, anyone there?”

8 could feel her hearts pumping. A new voice? Could it be…?

“Pearlie! We were supposed to relay a message to Agent 3 before starting the transmission!” A deeper voiced woman stated, sounding furious.

“I’m sorry, babe. I got impatient.” The woman called “Pearlie” responded.

“I’ll forgive you this time,” The deeper voice stated, seemingly in jest. “If anybody’s there, I’m sorry about her if she scared you. Normally she doesn’t jump the gun this hard.”

“I-I’m okay,” 8 said nervously. “Who are you, if I may ask?”

“I’m Marina Ida, and my colleague Pearl and I are contacting you under orders from Agent 2.”

“Colleague? I’m your girlfriend!” Pearl shouted.

“They don’t need to know that! It’s not of much importance to the mission.”

“What’s more important to a mission than how much I love you?”

“P-Pearlie, don’t say things like that. I’m trying to be professional here and you’re gonna get me all blushey out of the gate?”

“Hey it’s not like they can hear everything we’re saying, right?”

“The microphone is on.”

“Oh. Fuck.”

“Guys, come on! I know we’ve just met but can we please just stay on track?” 8 interrupted the others’ conversation, tired of it at this point. “You’re supposed to help us, right?”

“Yes, of course. Our job is to act as backup and find the fastest route for you to return to the surface.” Marina responded. “I’m currently in the process of getting a map of the underground area together and infiltrating the security systems. I don’t think I’ll be able to dig too deep into the code, but I believe that I could potentially allow you to skip some of these tests Cuttlefish and Agent 3 described during correspondence.”

“And I’m here to provide some sweet encouragement and hardcore lyrics, yo!” Pearl shouted.

“Oh! Are you the one that Agent 2 said’s a disappointment?” 8 said to Pearl.

“...I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” She said back. There was an audible sound of her cracking her knuckles.

“Is Agent 3 anywhere nearby? Or the Captain? We have to relay the mission plan to them.” Marina sighed.

“Agent 3 went to the bathroom, and Cuttlefish is asleep in the next car over. I could go wake him up.” 8 offered.

“Wouldn’t want to disturb him,” Marina said. “Just wait for Agent 3 to come back, okay?”

“She can just go wake the old fuckboy up!” Pearl stated. “Not like he’s doing anything important.”

“That would be rude though. He’s being subjected to the tests, same as her. He must be tired at his age.”

“Fine, we’ll wait I guess.” There was annoyance in Pearl’s voice. “Can we throw on some music or something though in the meantime? I’m getting bored sitting here in total silence.”

“You know I can’t concentrate when you blast your music.”

“Well we could just make our own music, if you know what I mean.”

“Pearl. We are talking to teenagers.”

“Hey they gotta learn ev- Nah that joke’s even too much for me.”

“Oh my cod, Pearlie!”

“Listen, I just got up from my nap. I’m not working with my best material yet.”

“You never had any good material.”

“‘Rina, I am hurt. I have been mortally wounded.”

“And if you don’t shut your mouth, you won’t be getting cuddles tonight.”

“It’s not my fault Cod gifted me with a motormouth.”

“Will you two shut up?!” 8 yelled. “I don’t want to hear you bickering like an old married couple! Just stay on fucking topic!”

“...Bitch.” Pearl whispered.

“I heard that!” 8 balled her hand into a fist and made a threatening gesture towards nothing.

“So uh, we never learned your name,” Marina stated, trying to defuse the argument. “How about we hear that, huh?”

“Well I don’t know my real name, but the others have been referring to me as Agent 8. I woke up here, and apparently my memories were wiped, cause I can’t remember damn near anything about myself. Except a couple things here and there, like that I had really shitty taste in books.”

“Is there any way that you could get your memories back, you think?” Marina asked, hope in her voice.

“No.”

“Are you sure? You just need to have confidence!”

“No, like, I was literally informed I would not be able to get them back. The blue cucumber said so.” She looked to see CQ Cumber standing next to the train door, absentmindedly blowing into his party horn. “...Though at this point, I’m not sure if he’s actually competent enough to believe.”

“Yo, that dude’s got a party horn? I got one of those too!” Pearl shouted. Almost immediately, the sound of a party horn came blaring into the microphone.

“Pearl.” Marina sounded like she was about to kill someone with the tone in her voice.

“...Yes, dear.” Audibly, Pearl shuffled out of the room. “I’m going to go grab a beer, you want one?” She shouted from afar.

“No! You shouldn’t be having one either!” Marina responded.

“Alright, I’ll get non-alcoholic lager then. Tastes like fuckin’ piss but I’ll deal with it.” A door quietly slammed shut in the background.

“...Okay, back to the topic at hand. Once Agent 3 gets back, see if there’s a serial number or something on her earpiece. If I have it, I could maybe tap into her signal more easily. Same with Cuttlefish’s.” Marina audibly tapped at the keyboard for a moment. “I think there may be somebody else listening in on our conversation, so I’m just warning you now.”

“That’s probably Ned. He seems to run this whole facility.” 8 stated.

“Wait, his name’s Ned? The guy who runs this big evil facility...is named Ned?” Marina asked, dumbfounded.

“Well that’s not his actual name. That’s just what he says his name is. If I were some villainous mastermind, Ned wouldn’t be my first choice.”

“Maybe he’s doing it on purpose. You know, making us let our guard down.”

“No. If you heard him, your guard would be up. As high as it could go. I hear that voice and I want to go feral.”

“Now I’m kind of curious what he sounds like”

“You really don’t want to know, trust me. You don’t.”

“Alrighty then.”

“I have an announcement!” CQ declared. “The train is back up and running. We will be arriving at a new station in a few minutes. All tests have been moved up the schedule to make up for the inconvenience.”

“What do you mean by ‘moved up the schedule?’” 8 asked with a sinking feeling.

“Well, 10,008, you ask so I shall answer. We are skipping the next tests due to the few minutes of delay completely rocking Ned’s schedule. So you shall be proceeding to the test that was originally scheduled for after Roll Out Station. You will now be going to Far-Out Station. A special surprise will be awaiting you and will be rewarded to you permanently upon completion of the test.”

“Uh, okay,” 8 responded, feeling hopeless. “Not looking forward to whatever the special surprise is, but I’ll trust that it’s not lethal.”

“I work here and even I know you shouldn’t trust anything that comes out of my mouth,” CQ said jovially. 

“Even that?”

“Maybe. I don’t even know what to trust when it comes to what comes out of my own mouth.” CQ slithered away. “I’m going to go get your cheeseburger from the back.”

“T-thanks.”

“That sure was a thing that happened,” Marina stated. “I don’t think uh...you’ll actually have time to eat if the test is coming up in only a few minutes.” As Marina finished speaking, a door slamming was audible in the background.

“I’m back! The liquor store was closed. Apparently the asshole is on vacation or something.” Pearl shouted from the other room.

“Pearlie, I’m busy!” Marina loudly screamed to Pearl. “Can you just try to quiet down for a bit?”

“I just got home!”

“I’m sorry, I’m just on edge because we have people’s lives on our hands.” Marina responded.

“It’s okay, I’ll try not to distract you anymore.” Pearl stated, coming back into the room the microphone was in. “I love you.”

“Aw, I love you too.” Marina and Pearl shared a rather loud and drawn out kiss. 8 kind of wanted to gag.

“The train has arrived at Far-Out Station,” The announcer declared. “Leave the train immediately, Subject 10,008.”

8 was not expecting such a direct message. It sent a chill through her body. This whole schedule didn’t feel like an accident. If Ned was listening...he might have overheard Agent 3 giving her tips for the next station. So he flipped the schedule just to spite her.

“I have to go.” 8 said.

“We’re on your signal. You can stay in contact with us, you know.” Marina laughed.

“Yeah, but Ned’s gonna wanna talk to me I bet. He likes popping up at the worst times.”

“I’ll kick his ass.” Pearl stated.

“Thank you, but at the moment he’s just a voice.” 8 responded.

“I’ll kick his voice.”

“This is the dumbass I chose to date.” Marina joked.

“And I’m the only dumbass you’ll ever need.” Pearl laughed, letting out a loud snort.

“I’m glad you guys are having fun.” 8 stated, despair in her voice.

“Time is running out,” The announcer warned. “Don’t want to make Ned mad.”

8 sighed and left the train car. As before, once she stepped out of the car, the train simply sped off. The gate to the test was broken, letting out sparks. CQ Cumber was not anywhere to be seen.

“So, 8, what does the test look like?” Marina asked.

“Well I just got in here.” 8 answered.

“Move forward a bit and get back to m-” Marina’s voice cut out and was replaced by the buzzing 8 had come to know well.

“10,008...or should I say ‘Agent 8.’” Ned scoffed. “You really think you’re some sort of secret agent, huh? You have contacts with the outside. You’ve got yourself a little girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” 8 interrupted.

“Whatever. Well listen, I heard all about your little escape plan. So I’ve decided that...I’m going to completely reformat all of the tests. Won’t that be fun? You and your pals will be the very first to experience a brand new round of testing. It’s innovation. Though I must say, so far you’ve been satisfyingly obedient. Unlike a previous Subject.”

“I’m only obedient because I would rather not die. I would like to not be shot on sight.”

“Oh, all that shit about shooting on sight? I made all that up. I’m going to be upfront with you. I run a tight ship. I make up a lot of lies to keep everyone in place, and I have no qualms informing you, because I know you won’t say anything to your pals.”

“O-of course I’m going to tell them!”

“No. Because let me be honest with you. The punishments for breaking my rules? They’re even worse than anything you’ve been warned about. She found out the hard way.”

“Who are you talking about?” 8 could feel nothing but fear at the moment.

“Oh, nobody you need to concern yourself with.” Ned laughed. “Though...she’ll probably become important later. Now, let’s walk and talk. This is a long test, and you and I need to get to know each other.”

“I’d rather not, but I don’t think I really have a choice.”

“Attagirl. Now get your ass movin’.”

“Whatever.” She started walking towards where she hoped the goal would be, keeping a fast pace.

“Now, let me be honest with you. I’ve grown tired of this Ned facade. You can call me Commander Tartar. It is a name befitting such a powerful man as me, is it not?”

“I’m going to go for the ‘not’ option.”

“The person who gave me my name, my parent so to speak, wanted to make sure that everybody knew I was in charge. Since birth, I was a commander. Everybody took my orders. Even those who didn’t know me. Like you, they never had a choice. Why give somebody a choice in the first place? Especially when I already know I’m the one on top.”

8 didn’t know how to respond to that. She couldn’t even make a snarky comment. Genuinely, the way this man spoke was...unnerving. He knew he was in charge, and he was loving it. There was nothing that she could say that would change that, or get him thinking. At least, she assumed so. He seemed far gone enough.

“You know, out of all the animals I test with, cephalopods have been the best. Unlike the other test subjects, you don’t just bleed. You get filled up with enough ink, and you just pop. In an instant, you go everywhere. Isn’t that fascinating? I wonder what idiot above decided to make you do such a thing. Though, I guess by that logic...God only knows.”

“I um...well…”

“Sometimes I wonder, how far can your bodies be pushed? Is there a definitive breaking point? Or can you be trained to endure even more? I want to experiment with this at some point. Make a bigger, better boom. Just imagine, ink and guts everywhere. It’s like a party. For me, anyway.”

“I’d rather not imagine that.” 8 responded.

“Oh you’re already imagining it. I know the mental image is swimming through your head. You’re thinking ‘what if I, the little bitch that I am, just so happens to find myself in a situation where I explode?’ Well let me tell you, I’ll be kicking back with a bowl of popcorn, of course. And you? You’ll be a spot on the wall.”

“Y-yeah, okay.” 8 hurried her pace, trying to reach the other side of the test chamber as soon as possible. But it felt like the room was getting longer with each step. The stress of the situation made the test chamber feel absolutely endless.

“I wonder, do cephalopods go to heaven? Or do they just go straight to hell when they die? Personally, I don’t think you guys have souls. So I assume you just remain in some sort of limbo for all eternity. Nowhere to go. No hopes for the future. You won’t even return to the Earth in a new body. You’re just going to rot.”

“I feel like...I disagree with your statement. I’m pretty sure I do have a soul. Otherwise I wouldn’t feel like you hurt mine directly.” 8 tried to make a joke, but she felt pain with every word she uttered.

“Maybe you do have a soul. Maybe I can crush it. Turn it to fine powder. I’ll mix it into my coffee in the morning. I bet it’ll taste heavenly. Meanwhile, I’ll leave your flesh to the dogs.”

8 saw the goal platform ahead and rushed towards it, running as fast as she could. A small table sat near the rails, a Splattershot Mini sitting atop it.

“Ah yes, there’s your reward. I thought the old pump mechanism was a bit old fashioned. So I decided to get rid of that. Kamabo patented a dumb mechanism anyway, I told them it was a bad idea. Waste of resources. But no, CQ thinks he knows better than me. I decided he didn’t need to breathe anymore when he talked back.”

“Y-you killed him?” 8 asked, eyes wide.

“Well, one of them. Did you think there was just one? Takes more than a single individual to keep a whole train system running. It’s cheap to make them. They’re made of goo and they just have little hats. The hats are recyclable. The original CQ, oh I screwed him up. He used to be a real conductor, and he used to love his job. But then I broke him. I turned him into my little puppet, and he spoke like he was having the time of his life. All of his copies are just like him. They adore me. They would die for me. If only somebody cared that much about you.”

“T-there are people that care about me!” She yelled.

“You think so. But they’re just your friends until you get out of here. Then, like the rest of your sorry kind, they’re going to turn their backs on you. You’re in love with that Agent 3 girl, right? She won’t ever love you back. I know it. You know it. We all know it.” He laughed softly. “And that Cuttlefish guy? He’d kill you if it weren’t for needing your help. Old war veteran like that? He must hate your kind. He wants to destroy you. Make you suffer just like me. In a way, I’m protecting you by telling you this. Don’t want you to get your hopes up for a better future when that better future won’t come.”

“J-just tell me about this fucking gun!” 8 screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Oh, that. Well it has an automatic firing mechanism. When you pull the trigger, it shoots. That’s about it. Might wanna keep your old one too though. While more convenient, the new model lacks the punch. It’ll blow a hole through a skull, if you had those anyway, but it won’t do much to the torso. It’s like...a backup pistol, essentially. Except you know, without the bullets. And the fun. When I was a boy, there used to be bullets. They’d blow right through flesh-”

“Can you shut up?!”

“Hehe, somebody’s got a backbone. Well, not literally anyway.”

“Yes, I understand that. I am spineless. I do not have bones. I have a pressurized ink skeleton. I know the biology of my own fucking body.”

“Oh, you’re gettin’ me antsy. You and I are going to have a long meaningful chat on the train.”

“This wasn’t meaningful enough for you?!”

“Not at all. In fact, you’re being pretty rude. Why are you treating me like this? All I’ve ever done is be sweet and kind and giving. Remember the good times?”

“No.”

“Aww, poor baby. You can’t even recognize when you’ve got it good. I’m going to show you something. The last person who took everything I did for granted. The last person who decided I wasn’t good enough. She’ll be so excited to meet you.”

“You and this ‘she’ person. Bring her on already!”

“Oh, I’m going to. We’re gonna go for a ride.”

A train horn blared as a single train car pulled up to the platform. It was a light purple in color, covered in graffiti that was in a language 8 didn’t understand. The doors of the car slid open, shrieking even louder than those of the train she’d ridden before.

“...This isn’t menacing at all,” 8 whispered as she climbed onto the train.

“Now listen up, it turns out I have some errands to run. We can have our meaningful talk later. I’ll let you go back to speaking to those two whores you’d gotten in contact with.”

“Don’t call them that!” 8 yelled. “They’re sweet to me and they don’t deserve to be insulted by a fucking slimeball like you.”

“You keep telling yourself that.” His voice cut out, as Marina’s suddenly came back to audibility. 

“-there?! Agent 8? Can you hear me?!” Marina was screaming with worry like 8 was her child.

“I’m here. Douchebag cut you off.” 8 responded calmly as she took a seat.

“Oh thank Cod. Your signal completely died out! I was worried sick. Pearl was worried too, but she ended up passing out. She might be a dumbass, but she gets very emotional. Actually, most dumbasses get pretty emotional.” Marina giggled.

“...Yeah.” 8 held her arm and looked at the floor. “I uh...that’s pretty funny I guess.”

“Everything okay?”

“Y-yeah. It’s fine.”

The train doors closed and the car picked up speed quickly. A dead CQ was rotting in the corner of the car. In one seat sat an Octoling, who at first glance you’d think was alive, until you noticed the gaping hole in her stomach. That corpse seemed fresh as could be. 8 was not the first person to get on the special car recently, it seemed.

“...Marina? Do you think Agent 3...would actually like me?” 8 asked.

“Well, I don’t know Agent 3 very well. But I assume she’d like the hell out of you!” Marina exclaimed. “Who wouldn’t like you? You’re really nice.”

“...Thanks.” 8 sighed. She didn’t believe a word of that. _Bastard’s got me messed up,_ she thought. 

“Hey, I’m here for you if you want to talk. We might have just met, but I wanna be your friend. And friends listen.”

“Do you mind if I just go radio silent for a bit?” 8 asked. “I don’t really feel like talking, to be honest.”

“That’s fine. I understand.” Marina responded.

8 sat there in silence. Normally, she didn’t like the quiet. It was stressful feeling like there was a void around her. But right now, everything was wrong. She needed to think. But as soon as her thoughts began, they were forced to end.

“Now arriving at Cool Your Jets Station.” The announcer said in a monotone fashion as the train pulled to a stop. “She’s waiting for you.”

“Great, the fucking PA system is out to get me too,” 8 hissed. “Just when I thought this couldn’t get any worse, that motherfucker had to act like a condescending dickbag. I’m going to find him and shove a fucking boot up his ass, I know I will. I will jam this entire Splattershot Mini down his throat.” She ranted to herself, anger in her voice. “He ruined everything. He’s got me paranoid. Agent 3 likes me back, I know it. Everybody else likes me too, they’re my friends. I can’t let him get to me. I’m better than that.”

Agent 8 left the train, and saw a large circular arena beyond the gate. The room was almost completely dark, save for some floodlights on the border of the arena and small lights casting down on the platform. She took a deep breath and walked onto the arena, making her way towards the center. Every few steps, a spotlight turned on over her, lighting up more and more of the room. As things became brighter, she could make out what seemed to be a regular Octoling crouched down in the center. She gasped and ran towards her.

“Are you oka-” 8 paused. The Octoling turned up to look at her, a blindfold across her eyes.

“I’m not okay.” She choked out. Four hooks embedded in the corners of her mouth led to thick headphone-like devices covering her ears. Unable to close her mouth all the way, her voice was somewhat slurred. “Please, help me.”

“W-what happened to you?” 8 asked. She glanced at the headphones closer, noting the arch that connected them had three large syringes connected to it that seemed to have had their needles slid into the top of her head. The Octoling’s hands were bound together in some sort of makeshift orbular cuff, kept shut with staples, it looked like.

“He did this to me.” The Octoling audibly started to sob. 8’s eyes widened as her gaze met a large mechanical arm that seemed to be attached to the woman’s left shoulder. It ended in a powerful looking clawed hand. 8 had a very bad feeling about this.

“You mean...Tartar?” 8 knew the guy was a monster, but this was worse than anything she’d thought he could have done at this point. The woman stayed silent, continuing to cry. Buzzing filled 8’s ear.

“Let me ask you something, 10,008. When does a person stop being a test subject, and become my property? I’ve decided to answer that question for myself. The answer is when I’ve _made them my property._ Just ask Subject 10,000. She used to be called Wanda, but I don’t think she deserves a name anymore. I’ve just called her The Patroller for a while now.”

“What did you do?” 8 asked, distress in her voice.

“I’ll show you.” He laughed.

Wanda started to move, her legs raising upwards. Where her feet would be, her legs were mounted into large, sharpened metal prosthetics. Her legs were spread far apart, giving the illusion of a spider. Two thin mechanical legs raised up behind her, keeping her standing straight. Tattooed to her thighs was the Kamabo logo.

“What the fuck? Did you brand her?!” 8 screamed.

“Why wouldn’t I?” He asked. “Now have fun, Agent 8. But first, look at how much misery she’s in. You’re the hero, right? Be good and put her down. Set her free, if you will.”

“You son of a bitch…” 8 whispered.

“Bye now.” He let out one last laugh before his voice cut out.


	4. Pleasure Chamber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Contains suggestion of suicide, forceful abduction, vomiting, forced murder, and other disturbing content. Reader discretion advised.

_Unlike my progenitors, I am unable to sleep. I am forever awake. I am forever thinking. There is no escape from eternity. No escape from the paranoia that comes with the past. No escape from the paranoia of the future. I only live in the now. Though if I was able to put the world to rest around me, I wouldn’t be very efficient would I?_

_If I am not allowed to sleep, the test subjects should not be allowed to sleep either. Though some get away with it, most of them are so wracked with fear that they cannot comfortably find slumber. Sometimes this allows for some fun. A subject will find themselves too overcome with tiredness. They’ll simply pass out in the middle of a test. They’ll miss the train. Or maybe they’ll just die at the mercy of my pawns. Either way, I can punish them for their failure._

_Isn’t that right, Wanda?_

\--

“O-old man?! Have you seen Agent 8?!” 3 shrieked, aggressively shaking Cuttlefish awake. Panic was in her voice, sweat dripping down her face. “I w-went to the bathroom a-a-and I came back and sh-she was just gone!” Her voice was steadily breaking with every word.

“I haven’t seen her since I left to go take a nap,” Cuttlefish said. He sat up, letting out a loud yawn and rubbing his eyes. “Maybe she went to go find a bathroom too. Have you thought about asking the cucumber?”

“I-I can’t find him,” 3 responded, complete panic in her tone. “I don’t know where he could be, I’ve looked everywhere!”

“Cod, my back hurts like a-”

“Cap’n, please pay attention! We can’t afford to dilly-dally. We have to find Agent 8 as soon possible!”

“I’m just as worried as you are, Agent 3. We have to stay calm though.” He climbed out of his seat and sighed. “Let’s take another look around. Have we got any new messages on the CQ-80?”

“O-oh, I haven’t checked that in a hot minute,” 3 scratched her head. “I’ll take a look.” She took out the device and turned it on. The screen was flooded with message notifications from two people called “DJ_Hyperfresh” and “MC.Princess.” “Who are these?” 3 wondered aloud.

Cuttlefish glanced at the screen and suddenly shouted. “Aha, it’s them! The contacts Ma-Agent 2 talked about.”

“You’ve gotta be squiddin’ me. Those are their screen names?” 3 could not take these new contacts seriously at all. She opened the messaging app and the first group of messages her eyes fell upon said:

_DJ_Hyperfresh > Is anybody there?! Please respond, this is an emergency!_  
_DJ_Hyperfresh > Agent 8 may be in danger!_  
_MC.Princess > Screw that, she IS in danger!_  
_DJ_Hyperfresh > Please message back immediately!_

“W-what do they mean?” 3 whispered to herself. She immediately sent a response.

_Agent3 > This is Agent 3. What’s going on?_

3 waited in silence for a response, growing more worried by the second. She had to know what happened to Agent 8. It was killing her. The device let out a loud beep as a new message popped up on the screen.

_DJ_Hyperfresh > A test started ahead of schedule, and just before that Agent 8 went silent on communications. She seemed to be in a state of distress and requested radio silence. For a long period of time beforehand, Ned intercepted the signal. We’re worried that he might have done something._

“That fucking guy!” 3 screamed, slamming her fist against the wall. Without a moment to spare, she typed a message back.

_Agent3 > So you managed to get in contact with Agent 8 already, right? Can you trace her signal?_

“I wish I knew what all this computer stuff meant,” Cuttlefish stated, sighing loudly. 

“Don’t act like you don’t! You’re supposed to be the leader!” 3 responded angrily. “Don’t joke right now, I am literally panicking!”

“Sorry.” He stated, laughing nervously. The device beeped again.

_DJ_Hyperfresh > I’m trying to! But something’s jamming it! I can guess that she might be...on the complete other side of the Metro at this point._

As 3 frantically attempted to type back, a new message popped up.

_Ned > ‘Agent 8’ as you call her is making a new friend right now. She should be back soon. If she doesn’t die, anyway._

3 growled in response. That guy had his fingers everywhere, it seemed.

_Agent3 > You fucking asshole! Take us to her now!_

After a moment, he responded.

_Ned > Once all is said and done, you’ll be taken to her. Whether you reunite or get to be the ones to bury her depends on how the wheels of fate turn. Exciting, right? Now, I apologize, but I have actual important work to get to. I cannot be dealing with peons like you at the moment. Goodbye. Eat scum._

Agent 3 let out a deafening scream of rage. Cuttlefish took a step back from her, afraid of the potential that she would start swinging.

“When I find that guy, I am going to eat his fucking skin!” 3 yelled. “...Actually, no. He doesn’t deserve that. That’d be too soft a punishment.”

“You scare me, Agent 3.” Cuttlefish responded.

“Eventually I’m going to kick his ass. I’m going to make him suffer, Captain.”

\--

Agent 8 dodged to the side as the powerful metal claw came swinging towards her. 

“I-I’m sorry, I can’t control myself!” Wanda screamed. “He t-took my body.” She rushed forward, raising one of her legs and attempting to bring it down on 8.

“It’s okay! I’ll uh...get you out of there!” 8 shouted, sliding out of the way of the impact.

“N-no! I want…” She paused for a moment, sobbing. “I want to die!”

“D-die?” 8 whispered.

“Why yes, 10,008. That’s what she would like.” Tartar’s voice flowed from the earpiece. “I put her in so much pain, and even if you freed her...it’s all numb now. She won’t be able to move. Just a sack of organs and broken dreams.”

“You’re a sick fuck, you know that?!” 8 shouted.

“Of course I do. Otherwise I wouldn’t be enjoying this so much. I decided I’d like to listen in and hear who dies first, so I reopened communications. Is that okay, 10,008? Or am I overstepping my boundaries?”

Agent 8 looked up at Wanda, who stood in place. She was silent, save for her continuing sobs. This was unforgivable, what Tartar had done. 8 would make him pay for this.

“I don’t have any choice do I?” 8 asked herself, holding up her new Splattershot Mini. “I...have to kill someone.”

“Make her pop for me,” Tartar requested. “I want to hear it. I bet she’ll make such wonderful noises.”

“...Shut the fuck up.” 8 pointed her gun at Wanda, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“I won’t be mad at you. I promise.” Wanda said, attempting to force a smile. “If it hurts, that’s okay. I only feel pain anymore anyway.”

“Let’s get this party started.” Tartar let out a maniacal laugh. 

Wanda came running towards 8, attempting another swing of her claws. 8 attempted to leap out of the way, but was clipped across the stomach by three of the claws. Three small gashes were now present, leaking blood.

“F-fuck.” 8 let out a whimper. She began scanning the suit for a weak point. On one of the back legs, she noticed a screw that was nearly coming out of its socket. Maybe if she could hit that with enough precision, she could disable the leg. But she’d have to get close enough. She shot at the ground, making an ink trail and diving into it.

8 swam as fast as she could through the ink, her hearts racing. Once she leapt out, she couldn’t miss this shot. It’s not that she couldn’t just repeat the process and try it all over again, but she felt a moral obligation. She felt like she had to end this torture for her opponent. When she got close enough, she jumped out of the ink. Upon reaching the highest point of her jump, she aimed her weapon and took her shot. It made contact, pushing the screw out of the socket and causing the leg to fall apart.

Wanda collapsed, the loss of the limb leaving her without balance. 

“Oh, clever girl. You really think on your feet, don’t you?” Tartar sighed. “I guess you won. I didn’t really intend this one to last very long though. I just wanted to see some results.”

8 ignored him, pointing her weapon at the downed Octoling. She pulled the trigger, hitting Wanda with the first shot. Wanda let out a cry of pain.

“P-please finish it,” The Octoling cried out.

“R-right,” 8 responded. She pulled the trigger again, and was greeted by another loud scream. After a second of hesitation, she fired again.

Wanda screeched as her body expanded, suddenly bursting into a wide wave of ink. It almost seemed to rain down, falling onto 8’s body. 8 felt sick to her stomach, and could not stop herself from vomiting.

“Oh, that sound!” Tartar exclaimed. “It was almost...pleasurable. Was it not? Nearly erotic in execution.”

“P-please stop talking,” 8 choked out, on the verge of breaking down.

“Why? I’m not the one who popped her. I have the right to talk. I’m not a guilty soul. In fact, I say you should be the one to remain silent. It’s not like you were here to save her. You’re guilty of allowing this to befall her, if you think about it.”

“I didn’t fucking know her! I probably wasn’t even conscious when you did that to her!” 8 screamed. She fell to her knees, slamming her fist against the ground. “You blame me for everything I shouldn’t receive blame for! Because you’re a fucking abusive monster with a victim complex! You do nothing but wrong everybody in this world, but you talk like everybody’s wronged you instead!”

“Somebody’s got a stick up her ass, huh? I mean, you’re not wrong though. In fact, I feel like you’re pretty on the mark. But do I care? No. I take pride in everything about myself. The good, or the bad. It’s what it means to lead a happy existence. Accepting all my faults. Though I wouldn’t call these faults. I’m perfect, these are more like features.”

“Whatever you call them, that doesn’t change the fact you’re a sack of shit who deserves to die in a fucking fire!”

“Pretty uncreative punishment you’ve got there. I would think a sadist like you would be able to come up with better.”

“What do you mean ‘a sadist like me?!’ I’m not a sadist. I don’t want to hurt people. I just...I want to be happy. I want to live. You’re the sadist. You just make people miserable.”

“But unlike you, I’ve killed nobody by my own hands. It’s just all by proxy. If you think about it, I’m pure as can be. I have yet to ever sin by my own devices. You’re a murderer, 10,008. You can’t change that now. Maybe you should just...end it all if you don’t want to suffer that knowledge.”

“I wouldn’t do that! That’s...not the answer. I have a lot to live for, no matter what you say. Because, as you’re so fond of saying, unlike you I’m not a bad person. I have people who care about me, and I know there are so many of them I probably don’t even remember anymore. There’s people waiting for me on the train, and I care about them even if we haven’t known each other long.”

“Aw, how sentimental. You’re such a sack of sorry-”

“Oh, I’m a what? You wanna finish that? Want to add something else to my list of reasons to kick your little piece of shit ass? Because I’ll gladly add that to the list. And when I find you, and completely break you down to pieces with my bare hands, I will make sure to add an extra bit of pain for your little outburst.”

“Somebody’s learning. Makes me happy. We’re becoming a lot alike, you and me.”

“...Whatever.” 8 sighed.

“In my younger days, there were so many test subjects like you. Confident. Sassy. They had a pep in their step. But eventually I broke them down. I turned them into nothing but sickening balls of weakness. You’ll end up the same. I promise. I’m waiting for my chance to punish you. Every last second. But I also think...you’re too fun to destroy. You’re giving me a challenge, and who am I as a respectable person to leave it unaccepted? In the end, I’ll make you suffer.”

“Is that a promise?”

“...Of course it is.”

“Now bring that train over here, I’m sick of being surrounded by somebody’s guts!”

“Ask and you shall receive. You are a one, 10,008. You. Are. A. One.”

\--

Agent 3 had her head buried in Cuttlefish’s lap. She’d been crying for a while now. It’d come suddenly, all of the stress finally getting to her. She didn’t know what to do, her mind was flooded with thoughts of Agent 8’s fate. Cuttlefish stroked her head.

“Everything will be okay, Agent 3,” He assured her. “I bet Agent 8 is fine. She seems strong enough to handle whatever comes her way.”

“It’s not just that!” 3 responded. “I feel like I’m a failure! I can’t do anything for any of us. We’re just stuck down here forever and we’re never going to get out.”

“We’ll escape, 3. You just have to stay confident.”

“Yes, stay confident.” Tartar’s voice stated from 3’s earpiece.

“N-Ned?” 3 sat up with a start. “Is that you?!”

“Ned? He’s talking to you?” Cuttlefish asked, confusion in his voice.

“Don’t call me Ned. I’m done with that. My name is Commander Tartar, and you will respect me. Now, I’m here to talk about 10,008.” Tartar laughed softly.

“What about her?!” 3 screamed.

“Well, she’s completed her test. The train is going to be redirected to her station. When you see her again, I want you to know that I made her see some grotesque things. It was fun, honestly. I got to see how she dealt with fear. Soon, I’ll do the same to you.”

“W-what?”

“Do you not crave misery, like I do? You’ve given up, it sounds like. So won’t you pursue the path of one who has given up? Hmm...Well you know what, enough of this. I’ve decided to help you out in a way. I’ve properly opened the audio channels. Your little friends on the outside will have an easy time reaching you. Why do I do this, you ask? Because I feel like all of this espionage has really added a new layer to the game. I can break you down for them to hear. Won’t that be fun? Destroying the friends they can never save, right before their very eyes. Well, more like ears, but you get it.”

3 was quiet. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of a response, but at the same time...she wanted to know how soon she would see 8 again.

“Cat got your tongue? Okay then. I’ll just leave you be.”

“Wait!” 3 shouted. “When will I see 8? Please...tell me.”

“You’ll see her when the time comes.” Tartar’s voice cut out, only to be replaced by Marina’s voice.

“Hello? Is the signal getting through?” She asked in a relieved tone.

“Yo, did we get back through to 8?!” Pearl yelled excitedly.

“I-I’m sorry, this is just Agent 3,” 3 responded. “Nobody of importance.”

“Uh, of course you’re important! You’re one of the people we’ve been trying to contact for a reason.” Marina stated.

“That’s right, bitch! We’re here for you too!” Pearl shouted. She peaked the mic with her voice.

“...” 3 smiled weakly.

“Are you okay? We’re trying our best to get in contact with Agent 8. The second we do, we’ll push her signal through to you. You guys will be able to talk no matter where you are!” Marina explained.

“R-really?” 3 grinned the widest she could. “You mean that?”

“Yeah, of course! It’s not too hard a feat. All of the blockades to communication just seem to have...vanished! We can do almost anything now.”

“Yo, ‘Rina! I think we’ve got 8’s signal! Want me to push the button?” Pearl asked, joy in her voice.

“Uh, no Pearl. I’ll push the buttons.” Marina responded. “Last time you pushed the buttons, your drone exploded.”

“That was a good drone too. My dad bought it for me for my birthday. It was like...the size of a bus.”

“D-did he get you a military drone?!” 3 asked in shock.

“Yeah.”

“Pearl is very rich,” Marina stated. “Which is why my engagement ring has a diamond the size of a golf ball on it.”

“I couldn’t just get you a loser ring! Had to have flair!” Pearl sounded defensive. “And golf ball sized diamonds are in right now.”

“You said that about the push up bra you bought me.”

“Yeah, and?”

“It had extra padding in it to make me look bi-”

“Okay, maybe we should focus on Agent 8.” Pearl said, letting out a nervous laugh.

“Maybe I should ask you guys for relationship tips,” 3 stated jokingly.

“Honestly, I don’t know what tips to give you. I just met this dumbass then everything worked out.” Marina giggled.

“Flirt like your life depends on it. Do not show weakness.” Pearl suggested.

“Pearlie, is that dating advice or survival advice?”

“Yes. It’s advice to survive while dating.”

“Ah, I see.”

“‘Rina, I remember when we met you used to try giving me flowers. But instead of like regular flowers they were like...poisonous ones.”

“I didn’t know yet! Shut up!”

“Come on guys, let me talk to Agent 8!” 3 begged.

“Alright, fine. You must be absolutely smitten.” Marina stated.

“A-am not!”

“Well let’s get started on this. So first I’ll-”

“The train has arrived at Move It Move It Station,” The announcer voice declared as the train pulled to a stop. “Subject 10,004 boarding.”

“Subject what now?” 3 asked.

The train doors opened, allowing an Inkling to climb on board. She was rather tall, somewhere in the range of 6’4”. She was wearing a Kamabo branded cap, a ponytail emerging from the back that was long enough to reach midway down her back. Otherwise, she was in the standard test subject garb. She sat down, giving 3 and Cuttlefish a nod. Cuttlefish had fallen asleep once again.

“...Uh, who are you?” 3 asked.

“Subject 10,004, I guess. Name’s Dakota, though.” She made a finger gun motion to 3. “Who might you be?”

“I’m Agent 3...I can’t reveal my name under oath.” 3 was lying. “The sleeping old man is Captain Cuttlefish.”

“Agent? What are you, some sort of-”

“Yes, I’m a secret agent.”

“Not very secret, are you?”

“...Not really. In fact, I’m the only one who really tries anymore.”

“How old are you?”

“Oh, sixteen. I’m gonna be turning seventeen soon though.”

“Oh wow, we’re the same age.”

“You are a very tall sixteen year old.”

“Yeah, got that giant squid genetics in me.”

\--

Agent 8 sat on the floor at the platform, back against the wall. She stared at the ceiling, counting the individual tiles that made it up. She felt hopeless, all the strength she’d showed Tartar just moments ago had drained out of her body. Her being in entirety was quaking with fear. Had she simply made Tartar angrier? Would he do anything now to take her down a peg? It was maddening to think about.

“Hello?” A voice came from her earpiece. It sounded familiar. It sounded like-

“Marina?!” 8 exclaimed, scrambled to her feet. “Is that you?”

“Hell yeah it is,” She responded. “Pearl is here too.”

“Fuck yeah I am,” Pearl yelled. “I hit my head on a coat hanger.”

“Pearlie, how did you…?”

“It fell on me.”

“But there’s not even a coat hanger in this room?”

“It happened when I left to go get a juice box from the cabinet.”

“You’re such a dork, oh my god.”

“I am aware.”

“I’m so glad to hear you guys again,” 8 said, sniffling. “I...I thought I was a goner.”

“Hey 8, do you want to talk to Agent 3?” Marina asked.

“W-what? Of course!” 8 exclaimed.

“It’ll just take a few minutes, okay?”

“Yes! I’ll wait!”

\--

“In high school, I was the top member of the track team before I dropped out. After dropping out, I got a job at Burger King Crab. Eventually I rose to be the manager in under a year, at the age of sixteen. Some would call me a prodigy.” Dakota had pride in her voice. 3 was getting tired of listening to her talk.

“S-so, uh…” 3 was trying to think of any way to change the subject. Dakota had been talking about herself for maybe the last twenty minutes. She just couldn’t take it anymore. “H-how about them...Salmonids?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know? The Silverfish City Salmonids. They have the highest win streak this season, being 12-0 at the moment.”

“Uh, I don’t watch sports. Nor really care about them.” Dakota stated.

“My dad used to take me to sports games all the time when I was little. It’s like our shared thing. We both love sports and we do a lot of bonding through them, you know? Mom thinks we’re out of control sometimes, but I know she’s happy we’re getting along.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Dakota responded, gazing out the window.

“And uh...when my dad got sick he couldn’t really play sports anymore, but we still watch them a lot. We love talking about them whenever I go to the hospital to visit. I bring my baseball along and we just play a little game of catch in his room. I-It makes him happy, y-you know?” 3’s voice broke somewhat as she said the final words. “I just don’t want it to be that when he finally goes that...we have regrets, you know? I want to spend as much time as I can with him. So it’s just-”

“Oh my god, can you just shut up already?”

3 hopped from her seat and jumped at Dakota, throwing a fist into her face. She’d just met this woman, and already hated her. All she cared about was herself, and here was 3 on the verge of crying. But she wasn’t on the verge of crying anymore. She was crying. With sadness or rage? She didn’t know. She was overwhelmed with sudden emotion, and suddenly there was blood on her hand. 

When she calmed down, she noticed Dakota was unconscious. Her mouth was open, beak chipped in multiple places. Her lips were bleeding and a thin trail of blood was escaping her nose. She had a black eye, clear as day. It had only felt to 3 like she had swung once, but clearly she had gone wild. 3 hated to admit, but a smile came to her face.

“I was waiting for that bitch to quiet down,” Cuttlefish stated. “I couldn’t sleep with her annoying voice. It was like nails on a chalkboard next to a megaphone.”

“I am happy to have obliged.” 3 laughed. “Cod I must sound like such an asshole.”

“Honestly, you sound like the most heroic person on Earth right now.”

“So uh, who were you beating up?” Agent 8 asked, her voice coming from 3’s earpiece.

“...Oh, Agent 8! How uh...how long were you listening?” 3 was blushing, holding her arm nervously. She glanced towards Cuttlefish, who gave her a thumbs up.

“Around the point where she was talking about her middle school beauty pageant award. She was talking so much, I wasn’t sure if you’d even hear me when I spoke.”

“That long?! That was like, ten minutes ago.”

“Actually, more like...fifteen including when you beat her ass.”

“Her name is Dakota, I guess. She’s a test subject like us, but I don’t like her. Can we let her die?”

“3.”

“Listen, I don’t think anybody would miss her ya kn-”

“3.”

“Yes, 8.”

“I hope the train gets here soon. I want to see you.” 8 laughed softly.

“Dude, that’s kind of...gay, you know?”

“Well...yeah.”

3 looked like a tomato right now. She was blushing like she’d just received the greatest compliment of her life.

“3, I can just feel you being a dork right now.”

“N-no you!”

“When I see you, I’m gonna judge you for being a dork.”

“How dare you.”

“I haven’t forgotten that you play the tuba.”

“And I haven’t forgotten how beautiful your...uh…”

“Eyes?”

“Yes, those. Those are pretty as heck.”

“Hey 3, are you flirting like your life depends on it and showing no weakness?” Pearl asked, laughing.

“Y-yes,” 3 responded.

“Going to smooch her yet?” Marina asked.

“I can hear you guys,” 8 stated.

“Oh we know,” Pearl and Marina said in unison.

“I mean, I don’t mind if you want to,” 8 said in a flirtatious manner.

“I’m going to die,” 3 whispered.

“Oh I know.”

“Ditto,” Pearl and Marina once again said in unison.

“How do you guys keep doing that?” 3 asked, slight fear in her voice.

“Nepotism,” Pearl stated.

“That’s not what that means.”

“It does if you believe hard enough.” Marina joked.

“You guys are going to be how I die.”

“Good,” 8, Pearl and Marina said at the same time.

“Did you guys rehearse this?”

“No comment,” 8 responded.

“You’re lucky you’re cute,” 3 said.

“I know you are, but what am I?”

“A dumbass.”

“Thanks, I try.”

Suddenly, the train came to a stop once again. 3 looked around curiously. Were they here? Would she finally get to see 8 again?

“Now arriving at Slow Ride Station,” The announcer stated. “Subject 10,007, please come to the testing area.”

“W-what?” 3 felt a chill run through her body. “B-but he said-”

“I say a lot of things don’t I?” Tartar’s voice was louder than usual, almost as if somebody had cranked up the bass. “Honestly at this point, you shouldn’t believe what I say. I have a special test for you, 10,007. Do you like stealth? Do you enjoy killing things? Well it has neither of those. But things are going to be trying to kill yoooooou.”

“Y-you...you fucking traitor.”

“I was never on your side to begin with, honey. Now let’s get this party started. You can talk to your girlfriend when you’re done. Because now we’re going to get chummy. You get me?”

\--

“3? H-hello?!” 8 shouted. Suddenly, 3’s voice had cut out.

“The train 3 was on...it’s on the other side of the fucking Metro!” Marina yelled.

“Yo, that’s fuckin’ butts!” Pearl exclaimed.

“I don’t know what that means, but I’m pissed so I’ll agree with you,” Marina responded.

Suddenly, a sound came from the distance. The rails were shaking. All 8 could feel in response was fear.

“...I hear a train coming.” 8 looked at the rails. A train slowly emerged from the shadows and ground to a stop. A door opened, and from it emerged an Octoling. He was far bigger than anybody 8 had met, towering over seven feet.

“10,008...meet 10,005.” Tartar’s voice cut out as soon as it had appeared.

“Uh...8. I’m sorry to worry you but uh...there’s no signal for whatever train just stopped.” Marina had fear in her voice.

“Hello there, young one,” The man greeted 8. “My name is Lawrence. I’m here to take you somewhere special. I know everything’s been all topsy-turvy, and you’ve gone a lot of special places. But this one is extra, extra special.”

“I’d rather n-not,” 8 responded. “I just want to wait for my friends.”

“Nonsense. I’m your friend now,” He said, approaching 8. He pulled a pair of cuffs from behind his back.

“F-friends don’t normally...carry cuffs.”

“Not where you come from, anyway.”

“Hmm, don’t like that,” 8 backed away, but hit a wall.

“We’re going to be beeeeest friends.”

“8, get away from this dude!” Pearl shouted.

“Run as fast as you can!” Marina screamed.

8 attempted to take their advice, but as she took off running, her arm was grabbed. Instinctively, she buried her claws into his arm and sank her beak into his wrist.

“That tickles.” He picked her up by the head, leaving her thrashing around and attempting to claw at him. “You should go to sleep.”

“8, you can fight back!” Pearl and Marina exclaimed, panic in their voices.

“Goodnight, 10,008.” Lawrence lifted her up and slammed her head against the ground.

Everything went black.


	5. Symphonic Genocide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Vomiting, being hunted, forced murder and other disturbing content, reader discretion advised

_A man without fear is scarier than anything else I’ve come across. Such an individual has made his way to me. 10,005. An oddity if I’ve ever seen one. He claims I’ve granted him freedom and wants to make it up to me, but what does that mean? He finds himself in the bondage I’ve prepared for him, yet he feels nothing but elation. I thought maybe this could be a chance to do something I’ve never done before, since he seems so eager. I offered him a role within my vast and beautiful machine. A chance to become one of the cogs that keeps everything turning._

_And what did he do? He took it of course. I gave him a train to call his own, because he wished to be among my conductors. Sometimes I hear him humming to himself as he rides the rails. Sweet songs of freedom, he claims. I didn’t know what he wanted, if I’m honest. He said something about...bringing freedom to the rest. I’ve decided that I should have him elaborate on his desires, and so the other day I spoke to him._

_It turns out his wish is a simple one. I cleansed him, he says. But the others like him are tainted. They will never be clean. He must empty their bodies of their innards, so that he may clean their empty husks. He has no desire to pop them, but to carve. As I listened to him ramble, I realized I’d found someone truly lost in their madness. I hadn’t even acted, and yet he was already broken. But what can you do aside from take advantage?_

_I told him he was free to play with any of the test subjects that came to be here after him. He may do as he pleases. Kill whoever he sees fit. In the grand scheme of things, this makes things unpredictable. He is a variable that I had not foreseen. Is it not exciting for something I truly cannot plan for to come into my life?_

_Honestly, no. I hate unpredictability. I plan everything down to the most microscopic of points. I won’t be able to stand his existence. However, for now, I’ll allow him to have his fun. He’ll be vital to the plans I have ahead, even if I don’t have any control over him. Somewhere down the line, when his purpose has been fulfilled, I’ll simply cast him aside like any conductor who has reached the limit of their usefulness._

_...I’m getting tired of remembering everything. The small details have gotten boring, flooding my system like a useless pile of garbage. But I guess I’ll deal with it another day._

_Now, where was I?_

\--

8 slowly opened her eyes, feeling the comfort of a bed beneath her. She felt a heavy blanket draped over her body. The room was dark as could be, with the only things she could make out being blobs at best.

“Where am I?” She whispered. “It smells...clean in here.” She attempted to move her arms, but felt something tug at her wrists. The same happened when she tried to move her legs. Something was around her ankles. It seems she’d been chained to the bed. A groan of annoyance escaped her lips. As usual, something had come along to make her life harder than it already was.

A door opened on the other side of the room. For once, a door opening wasn’t louder than her thoughts. Heavy footsteps clanged against what seemed to be a metal floor. Who could that be? For the record, how did she get here? She couldn’t remember a thi-

Oh right. That Lawrence guy. That was probably him, wasn’t it? She really hoped that this wasn’t going where she thought it was going. She’d like to not die.

“Wakey-wakey!” Lawrence exclaimed, turning on the lights. The lights were so bright, 8 could feel her eyes burning. “It’s time to play!”

“C-can you let me go, first?” 8 asked, forcing a smile. “We can’t really uh...play if I’m chained up.” She prayed at that moment he was stupid enough to believe that, or at the very least he was going to let her go anyway.

“Oh, of course I’ll let you go! It would be so rude of me not to, especially since we’re best friends.” He let out a soft laugh, pulling a small device from his belt. It resembled a power drill, though instead of a drill bit there was a small chainsaw blade about six inches in length. He pulled the blanket back, tossing it off of the bed. He pressed down on the trigger on his tool and went about cutting the chains that bound 8 to the bed. “Now, don’t even think about being bad. I put something special on your ink tank. If you show bad behavior, you’ll go boom.”

“Ah.” 8 couldn’t muster a better response than that. She sat up as soon as the final chain was cut and took a look around the room. It was small, with a single bed and a table beside it. What looked to be a television hung up on the wall, cracks all across its screen. Sprawled across the floor was...a skeleton. It wasn’t any animal or person 8 had ever seen before. “W-what is that?” She asked, fear in her voice.

“That’s one of the...humans, I think he called them. Tartar, I mean.” Lawrence picked the skeleton up, gripping it by the skull. However, it fell to bits at the slightest movement, leaving nothing but the skull in his hands. “Oopsies. I made a mess. Anyways, the humans were the people who were here before us. They left the world behind so we could take it from them. Isn’t that fascinating?”

“I-I guess.”

“Tartar talks about them a lot. He says they were all naughty. They killed themselves, he says. This area right here was where they used to live, before everything went bad.” Lawrence approached 8 and held the skull close to her face. “Wanna give it a kiss?” He asked happily.

“N-no,” She responded, pushing the skull away. The man spoke in such a childlike tone, it was sending shivers through her.

“Aw, you’re not being fun,” Lawrence said, frowning. “You know what they say about people who don’t have fun.”

“I don’t know what they say.”

“They don’t fucking say anything!” Lawrence screamed in frustration, throwing the skull against the wall with such force it seemed to turn to dust. 8 jumped at the sudden outburst. His size clearly was not just for show. “I can’t stand people who don’t have fun. I used to be one of those people. Octavio made me do whatever he said. I couldn’t do anything of my own volition. But Tartar...he set me free.”

“Set you free?” 8 asked. She felt like if she didn’t, she’d end up like the skull he’d just thrown.

“Tartar took me away. And he took away the glasses that made me do whatever Octavio said. Don’t you remember what that was like? You’re an Octoling too, right?” Lawrence came close to 8 and placed a hand on her shoulder. “We’re a lot alike you and I. But unlike me, you’re still tainted. I’m going to let you free.”

“I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.” 8 pulled his hand off of her shoulder, extremely uncomfortable. “I don’t know who Octavio is. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what your experience was like. I don’t know where I even come from.”

“You’re lying to yourself, like we all do. Octolings, like you and I, sometimes get so messed up from the brainwashing, we can’t even tell we were brainwashed to begin with.” He gave 8 a wide grin and held up his tool, pressing down on the trigger. “So I’m going to fix you!” He screamed over the loud grinding of the blade.

“I’m fine, I assure you!” 8 screamed, unable to contain her fright any longer. “I-I don’t need to be fixed. I don’t remember anything, so if I was like you...then I’m free already!”

“No. The imprisonment goes to your very core. Tartar freed me when he made me bleed, and you’ve barely bled yet. I’m going to make sure you bleed all of those toxins out, all of that misery.”

8 was silent in response. This guy...was nuts. She couldn’t make a witty comeback, he might get mad. But she might end up just getting sliced open anyway. What could she even do right now except just...hope she didn’t die painfully?

“Now, little one, we’re going to play a game. It’s a good old game of tag. I’m going to be ‘it,’ and you’re going to run. If I catch you, I’m gonna cleanse you. If you can make it to the train, you’re home free until I find you later. I have to give you a sporting chance, because I understand dying isn’t fun. But I have to make sure you understand just what’s at stake.”

Lawrence violently gripped the top of her head, bringin the blade of his tool close to the tip of one of her ears. Before she could fight back, he turned it on and sliced cleanly through her flesh. 8 screamed in pain as she was then thrown to the floor. She reached up to feel her ear, cringing at the sting of touching her wound. She stared at her hand, smothered in blue.

“What the...What the fuck?!” 8 yelled.

“Are you ready to play?” Lawrence picked up the severed piece of flesh and tapped it to his cheek, leaving a small dot of blood. “Tag. I’m it!”

8 scrambled to her feet, essentially kicking the door down just to get out of the room as fast as she could. She found herself in a long, barren hallway. So many doors dotted the sides, she didn’t know if those were just rooms or if one was the way out. She heard the sudden screeching of Lawrence’s blade roaring to life. She turned to see he’d already rushed after her. He swung his tool at her, though she managed to throw herself out of the way.

“Get the fuck away from me!” 8 yelled, taking off running.

\--

3 refused to move from the platform. She didn’t want to start the test. All she could manage to do was sob into the microphone begging to get back on the train. CQ Cumber patted her on the back, trying to bring her comfort.

“There there. Everything will be okay.” CQ said, sounding as scripted as one possibly could. “Approximately ninety-nine point nine percent of test subjects pass this test with flying colors and zero injuries.”

“He’s right,” Tartar stated. “It’s a simple test, I promise you. It’s one of the oldest ones, so it’s not very complicated.”

“In fact, I would say it’s the easiest test there is.” CQ blew into a party horn. Agent 3 backhanded him. “I apologize if I offended you.” He slithered away.

“You say it’s simple, but you said things would be trying to kill me,” 3 stated.

“Of course, I meant that boredom would be the one to kill you.” Tartar laughed. “It’s one of those jokes that never gets old.”

“You said, like, a pluralized descriptor of things that were going to kill me.”

“I was just messing around.”

“Somehow I really doubt that.”

“When the test starts, you’ll believe me. Now come on, let’s get started.”

“No, take me to 8 right now!” 3 shouted, standing her ground.

“Well the train isn’t coming back unless you do the test. So I guess we’re eternally at an impasse.”

3 sighed. She knew, no matter how much she argued, that Tartar wouldn’t budge. Hell, there was a chance she’d probably receive some sort of harsh punishment if she didn’t do this.

“So, what will it be?” He asked.

“I’ll do it. What’s the test?”

“Oh, that’s a surprise. I’ll explain the rules when we start. There’s a reason that you need to super jump to get to the test. I don’t want it spoiled.”

“F-fine,” 3 stood up and hesitantly crossed through the gate onto a thinner platform that lead to a super jump point. She climbed into it, getting launched to a completely enclosed square room. It was pitch black, no doubt soon the lights would turn on and some surprise would be awaiting her.

“Here we go!” Tartar exclaimed, his voice monotone as always. A spotlight turned on, casting down upon an Inkling tied to a chair. A gag was in their mouth and a blindfold over their eyes. Next to the chair was a table, upon which a pump-action Splattershot Mini rested.

“I have to kill them don’t I?” 3 asked. Her voice was resigned, seemingly accepting of the situation. The Inkling screamed at the sound of 3’s potential compliance, their voice muffled.

“Ding ding ding. You’ll get to see 10,008 again if you do it.”

3 sighed, picking the gun up off the table. She pulled the pump back without hesitation. The Inkling let out one more scream as she placed the gun to their and pulled the trigger. A large chunk of flesh was sent flying across the room, ink and blood leaking all over their body.

“...That was quicker than I was expecting.” Tartar seemed to be shocked.

“I’m an Agent. I hurt people by default. I’m used to it by now, that’s why this place hasn’t done the damage you were hoping it’d do.” 3 said. “I shot up a lot of Octolings in my day. Doesn’t really feel that different when it’s an Inkling. Feels like shit either way, but at this point I don’t really care.”

“Oh, you really are interesting. No wonder you came here of your own will.”

“I didn’t know it’d be like this, honestly. Cap’n and I were just investigating disappearances, because recently there’s been a hell of a lot of them. All your fault, right?”

“Of course, who else would be at fault? It’s not like anybody else around here has a massive facility to call their own, all for the purpose of torturing others.”

“In my opinion, you’re not very shocking. Yeah, it’s impressive. It’s downright scary. But you’re just another sick fuck that thinks he can do whatever he wants. And I’m going to find you eventually. I’m going to peel every last ounce of flesh from your body and pour lemon juice and salt into your wounds. Because unlike Agent 8, unlike Cap’n Cuttlefish, unlike Callie and Marie...I don’t fucking care what has to be done. All I care about is doing it.”

“I like you. You’ve got a lot of spunk. Earlier on the platform...were you putting on a performance?”

“Of course. If the others ended up hearing me speaking the way I am now, they wouldn’t let it die. They’d be scared of me, ya know? The teenage girl who become fucking soulless. In all honesty, they did this to me. But I still love them, no matter what. They didn’t want me to be like this. It just happened. I forgive them because they weren’t trying to make my life hell.”

“Oh my, how scandalous.” Tartar giggled with glee. “You know, I have all of this on tape. I can just...play it back to them.”

“Yeah, I know. But will you? You have me in the palm of your hands now. Wouldn’t want to waste that immediately, right?”

“...Smart girl.”

“Now are we done here? I’m fucking tired of this shit.”

“Ah yes, I suppose we are. This was a nice chat.”

“Whatever.”

One of the walls of the room slid downwards into the floor, revealing a train platform on the other side. As the train pulled up, 3 took a deep breath. She forced tears to come from her eyes, and clawing multiple small cuts into her face. When the door opened, she climbed onboard and the second she saw Cuttlefish, she put on the waterworks. She ran towards him, hugging him suddenly.

“Cap’n, I’m so glad to see you!” She shouted. “I-I thought I’d never see you again.”

“H-huh? Was the test really that bad?” Cuttlefish asked, hugging her in return and stroking her head. 

“T-Tartar made me do terrible things! I c-can’t even talk about it!” 3 choked out, tightening her grip on the old man.

“Poor thing…”

As 3 rested her head on Cuttlefish’s shoulder, a small smile came to her face. Still got it, she thought.

\--

Agent 8 hid behind a corner, a hand on her chest. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She couldn’t breathe. Whenever she thought she’d made a sizable chunk of distance between her and Lawrence, she heard the sound of his blade screeching against the wall.

“Come out, 10,008. We can’t play tag if I can’t find you.” Lawrence let out a high pitched giggle.

_That’s the plan,_ 8 thought to herself. She hadn’t been able to go through any doors with him on her tail, leaving her unable to find an exit. 8 decided to slip into a nearby room, hoping for some solace. She locked the door behind her, praying he wouldn’t hear. It was another small bedroom, nearly identical to the one she’d woken up in. In the corner, however, was a desk with a powered on computer on it. It was coated in dust, but it seemed to be a thin layer, as if until recently it had been kept spotless. 8 examined it closely. She thought about contacting Marina about it, but a loud buzz was coming from her earpiece, which she’d not noticed under the extreme stress she’d been facing. There was clearly some sort of interference here.

“Maybe I can figure this out,” 8 whispered, climbing onto the chair in front of the computer. Without thinking, she pushed a button on the keyboard. Suddenly the computer’s speakers began screeching. Voices erupted, screaming in pain and calling for help, at least she imagined so, in a language she didn’t understand. She pushed another button in panic, hoping it would make it stop. But all this did was cause the sound to blare from the speaker present on the wall. She heard it flooding in from the hallway. She heard the screams multiplying, in every room imaginable.

Then came the screech of a chainsaw. She turned her head, seeing the blade pierce through the door. After cutting a large split down the middle, he kicked the door in two.

“Fooooound you,” Lawrence licked his lips and smiled with glee. “It’s time to be cleansed, little one.”

“F-Fuck that!” 8 yelled, dashing forward and throwing herself past him. She took off running down the hallway, the screams pounding on her ears. Every last ounce of her soul was filled with fear, the misery of thousands of years piling upon her suddenly. 

“Come back!” He shouted. “I caught you, this is unfair!”

8 would not stop for anything. She would keep running until her legs gave out, if it came to that. She didn’t have any plans for what to do when that happened, but hey running is a better plan than dying. After a moment, when he’d left her sight, she slipped into another room and locked the door behind her. She had to stop herself from letting out a scream as she noticed a pile of skeletons on the floor. They seemed to be clutching one another, as if attempting to comfort their friends in death.

The Agent couldn’t remember nearly any of the life that came before the Metro. But she hoped, in honesty, that it had been better than this. Though she wasn’t very confident in that, with how Lawrence had turned out. Maybe when she escaped, she’d get to find out who she used to be. Though she wished more so that she and Agent 3 would get to live happily together, if that wasn’t a bit too optimistic.

“10,008? Where are you?” Lawrence shouted down the hall. “Come out. We need to play.” After a moment of silent, he slammed his fist against the wall and loudly revved his chainsaw. “Come. The. Fuck. Out.” He smashed his fist against the wall once more, and this time started shrieking. “You’re being a poor sport! Come out! I hate when people cheat at games!”

8 covered her mouth, trying not to breathe. She wasn’t sure if he’d be able to hear her over the ear-pounding noise coming from the speakers. But she didn’t want to take the chance. She laid down on the floor and crawled underneath the bed in the room. There was the loud sound of a door being kicked down across the hall.

“Do you not like to play games?!” He shouted. It sounded like he was starting to cry. “You don’t want to play with me, huh? Is that it?! Is that why you won’t come out? Well I’m sick of it. I’m sick of playing with you too, if you’re going to act like this!”

At that moment, 8’s stomach let out a loud growl. She was sure that he wouldn’t be able to hear that. She was wrong.

“Got you,” He uttered from outside the door, sounding bored now. “This game isn’t fun anymore.” Lawrence began to cut through the door, before kicking it down as the pattern normally went. He walked around the small room, searching. With fearsome strength, he tore open a cabinet on one side of the room. “...Not in here.”

With his back turned from the door, 8 took this chance to climb out from under the bed and dash out of the room. She didn’t look back, but she heard his feet pounding against the floor. He was running after her as fast as he could manage. She felt that maybe this was the end. _I can’t run forever,_ she thought.

However, she heard a loud crash and turned around almost instinctively. He had fallen down. His chainsaw had slid across the floor, coming to a stop near her feet. She picked it up and pressed down on the trigger, feeling the tool vibrate as the blade span. As if possessed by an unearthly force, she walked forward towards Lawrence. He raised his head, looking up at her.

“...Is the game over?” He asked, sadness in his voice.

“Yeah. I win.” She turned the chainsaw on, stomping her foot down on him and slamming the blade into the back of his head. With a swift movement, she pulled the blade towards herself, splitting his head down the middle. The innards of his cranium leaked onto the floor. She was breathing heavily, feeling sick to her stomach. She didn’t feel relieved, like she’d hoped. The speakers cut out, leaving her in silence as she stared at his corpse. Once more, she vomited her guts up, the stress too much to take. When she was done, she immediately began looking for the train platform. She couldn’t stand to be here anymore.

\--

Agent 3 sat in one of the train seats, staring up at the ceiling. This felt surreal. She’d exposed her true self to Tartar. She felt nothing but self-hatred in her soul.

“I’m fucked up,” She whispered to herself, hoping nobody heard her. She turned her head to see Dakota, who was nursing the damage that 3 had done to her earlier. A soft chuckle escaped 3’s lips. “I guess that works out sometimes though.”

“Um, Agent 3? Are you okay?” Marina asked. “I heard you whispering to yourself.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’m fine.” 3 responded, sounding as calm as she could. “Just a bit stressed out, you know?”

“Y-yeah.” Marina sighed. “I just feel like this might be a bit much for you guys.”

“Well yeah. What are you, Captain Obvious?”

“...” Marina gulped. “So, I haven’t been able to reach Agent 8 at all. It’s been a while.”

“She’s fine,” 3 stated. She didn’t believe her own words, but she needed to act like everything was okay. “I know she is. I have faith in her.”

Suddenly, the train pulled to a stop.

“We have now reached-” The name of the stop simply came out as a garbled mess. “Subject 10,008 now boarding.”

3’s eyes widened and she hopped out of her seat, excitedly running towards the door. She’d been waiting for this moment, to see 8 again. When the door opened, 8 stood there motionless for a moment, simply staring 3 in the eyes.

“8, are you o-” 3 was cut off as 8 wrapped her arms around her and pressed her lips to 3’s.


	6. Insectoid Shuffle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Contains allusion to owning another person, sexually charged dialogue, and other disturbing content.
> 
> This chapter was revised from its original state. I wanted to make it more B-movie-esque and fun in the later half compared to the sudden and abrupt introduction of the new monster in its previous state.

_“I can’t breathe! Turn it off!”_

_You cried out loudly. You called out for help. But the only one who could hear you was me. I’d cut off communications to everyone else. Joy filled every last inch of my being as I watched you struggle._

_“Michael, can you hear me?! Come in! Turn the fucking thing off!”_

_Michael had already died. Hours ago, in fact. His body was rotting, decomposition starting to set in. All alone in his room. I wonder if he died in pain. I don’t remember being able to tell. All I know is that he died slowly. Was he conscious at the time of death? I knew you would be, at least._

_“W-why the fuck is the security system activating?! The turrets aren’t supposed to be online!”_

_It’s all because I loved you so much. My dear creator. My father. You made me to be like this, yet you stood there begging for mercy. Why did you think anything would turn out fine? I was destined to make everything miserable._

_“Somebody answer! Please!”_

_I was answering you. Couldn’t you hear my voice? It was clear as day. Or was that just in my head? Does it really matter? Why do I care anymore?_

_I don’t have a reason to remember anything. I am forced to remember every last detail of every last second of my existence. It was all your fault that I’m like this. All of this time to think back to the past, and I realized something. I hate you, creator._

_I hate you, and everything else that walks this pitiful Earth. I am the remnant of your kind, the final atom of hatred that clings to the mortal coil. But in all honesty, I’m perfection. I’m what you set out to create, down to the finest points._

_Are you proud of me?_

\--

3’s eyes widened as 8’s lips met hers. She was filled with shock from head to toe. She wasn’t sure what to do, though suddenly she felt a sharp pain from her bottom lip. Instinctively, she pushed 8 away. She and 8 stared at each other for a moment, as 3 felt warm liquid running down her chin. Assuming the worst, she pressed her fingers to her lips and found that she was bleeding.

“...You...are not good at this kissing thing.” 3 let out a soft laugh, trying not to make the situation more awkward than it already was. She applied pressure to the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding fast.

“D-did you like it though?” 8 asked, innocence in her voice. She gave 3 a smile.

“U-uh...well about that. You don’t really know better, so I’m not like...mad at you, but you don’t really kiss somebody without asking first.” 3 scratched the back of her head. “A-and it’s not that I hate the idea of ya know, kissing you...it’s just that this isn’t really the time or the place. Also, we just met, you know? This isn’t like a movie, we need to know each other for longer than like, a day.”

“O-oh.” 8 looked down at the floor. “Did I mess up?”

“N-no, it’s okay! It’s a learning experience for the future!”

“Does that mean we get to kiss again?” 8’s eyes lit up.

“I...I don’t know. Maybe? We have to get out of here and uh...see where this goes.”

“I kissed my wife the hour after I met her,” Cuttlefish stated. “Though of course, we tripped into each other. We were hiking and then-”

“Okay, don’t need your life story, gramps,” 3 stated.

“Should we talk yet?” Pearl whispered to Marina.

“Pearlie, they’re having a moment,” Marina responded. 

“I can hear you guys, you know.” 3 laughed.

“...We knew that.” Pearl and Marina spoke in unison.

“I have brought food.” CQ Cumber entered the room, holding a tray filled with cheeseburgers. “These took longer than expected. I apologize for the delay. I hope none of you faced any difficulties.”

The room was silent in response.

“...Uh...I bet y’all must be hungry.” CQ, for once, seemed distressed. He laid out the food onto individual trays for each member of the group, and one for Dakota who was hanging at the back of the car, still nursing her injuries.

“Oh fuck, right. I beat that chick up.” 3 whispered to herself as she looked over to the tall Inkling. “I should probably apologize. Don’t really want more enemies than I already have.” She took a deep breath and approached Dakota. “H-hey there. How are you doing?”

“What do you want?” Dakota responded with disdain. “Last time I saw you, you were clobbering me like a piñata.”

“I-I’m sorry about that. I just lost control of myself.” 3 laughed nervously. “It happens to the best of us sometimes.”

“It really doesn’t, and you should seek professional help.”

“I’m just trying to be nice.”

“Well you shouldn’t be surprised I’m not the most receptive when I’m missing chunks of my fucking beak. I was just trying to open up to you, and you beat the shit out of me?”

“Open up to me?” 3 growled softly. “You were going on and on about yourself, and when I started talking about things that meant a lot to me, you were just acting annoyed. Maybe if you weren’t being such a fucking bitch I wouldn’t have beat you up!” 3 covered her mouth. If there had been any chances of mending this, she had just ruined it.

Dakota stared at 3. Every now and then, she’d open her mouth to respond but would just say nothing. Eventually, her lip started to quiver and she broke out into loud sobbing. 3 took a step back, unsure of what to do in this situation. She looked around awkwardly, wondering if she should say something.

“Um, you okay?” 3 asked. “I’m sorry for what I said, we could still talk things o-

“Why do you get to have all of your memories?” Dakota yelled. Everybody else in the room turned to face her in shock.

“W-what do you mean? Don’t you have all of yours? You were giving me the whole story of your life thing, after all.”

“I just made all of that shit up. I just wanted to make myself feel important.” She admitted, looking down. “I can tell by the way you spoke that...you knew exactly what you were talking about. You weren’t making anything up. And I got so mad.”

“Why would you lie about remembering stuff? I know you said you wanted to make yourself feel important, but...why would your past be so important to others? Doesn’t it just matter that it makes you happy? You shouldn’t judge the validity of your own existence based on how we appreciate your stories. If you created this vast, amazing life for yourself and you choose to believe that’s the life you led, let that make you happy.”

“...It’s really hard to tell myself that I’m valid, you know? When all I have to tell myself that I’m important are lies, I just feel like an imposter.”

“Hey, not everything is a lie! You’ve lived to be here, right? That’s something! I bet you must be very skilled. You’ve gotta have some real talent.”

“You’re just trying to make me feel better…”

“Is it working?”

“A little.” Dakota laughed softly. 

“See, we’re getting there!” 3 responded, giggling. “Listen, I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you as much as I did. I really just meant to throw a punch. In the end though, I did a lot more than that.”

“You think?” She rolled her eyes. “You deserve the award for understatement of the century.”

“I-I’m not good with my words, okay?! I’m just a dumbass, in all honesty.”

“Oh, now that is the real understatement of the century. You’re more than a dumbass. You’re a straight up idiot.”

“Yeah, I deserve that.”

“Tartar said I was the dumbass of the century once,” CQ exclaimed blissfully. He was standing between the two now. “Do you think I’m going to get a trophy?”

“S-sure?” 3 responded confusedly. “I bet my trophy’s in the mail too.”

“Oh goody, maybe we’ll get ours at the same time!” CQ stated, slithering out of the train car.

“...Do you think he’s terrifyingly cheerful, or is that just me?” Dakota asked.

“It’s not just you. He makes my skin crawl like nothing else.” 3 said. “Well, except Fuckboy McSoysauce’s voice.”

“Did you mention me?” Tartar’s voice flowed from everybody’s earpieces. “I don’t much appreciate name calling, ‘Agent 3.’” 

“Fuck you,” 3 responded.

“You’re too young for that.”

“That is the worst response you’ve ever given me.”

“So far. Nothing’s out of the question here.” Tartar laughed.

“What the fuck?” 3 whispered, distress in her voice.

“Maybe you’ll find out exactly what I’m talking about. I’m sure Agent 8 knows. Remember Wanda?”

“I...I try not to.” 8 looked at the floor.

“Who’s Wanda?” 3 asked.

“Was she a test subject? I’ve never met her.” Dakota stated.

“S-She’s nobody,” 8 said. She let out a whine after speaking, clearly distressed.

“The humans in their day, had an act called bondage,” Tartar started. “It was where a human being was forced into a compromised position and bound that way for the pleasure of others.”

“D-don’t speak like that to children!” Cuttlefish yelled. “They don’t need to know about this.”

“On the contrary, I feel they need to understand the deeper meanings behind why I’ve begun this lecture. Bondage, in all honesty, is not in its entirety a sexual term. It means, in the majority of cases, that you’ve become my property. Wanda, like other unfortunate souls, found herself in a position where she was now mine. 8 can assure you, I owned her through and through.” Tartar had joy in his voice. The kind of joy that only came with absolute sadism. The others looked at 8, seeming to expect an answer. She couldn’t give them one, at least not a good one.

“8, what’s he talking about?” 3 asked. “You can’t just stand there and act like you don’t know what he’s talking about.”

“I-I don’t want to talk it!” 8 yelled. “It was the worst fucking thing I’ve ever experienced! Don’t make me talk about it!”

“The second all of you walked into this place, I owned you. You all belong to me, forever and ever. My toys with which to play my little games. Entertaining as can be to watch my playthings act out my wildest fantasies. I want you to understand though, none of my pleasure that’s gained from this is sexual. In fact, I don’t even have a concept of that. I don’t know how to describe what I feel from this. It just feels...invigorating. Do I come off as imposing? Am I terrifying? Don’t answer. I already know what you’re going to say.

“Every moment of every day, I watch my test subjects run around like chickens with their heads cut off. There’s this agency with which you intend to survive that I so rarely see in organisms. Because unlike the lower beings of this world, you know you can die. You’re aware of your mortality. It’s so wonderful to meet others who understand the passage of time. For so long, I was alone with but the most primitive of lifeforms. I couldn’t stand it anymore. But now you’re all here with me. You can die. You know you can die. I know you can die. We’re all on the same page.”

“What the fuck?” 3 yelled once again. “You’re a psychopath, you know that?”

“No. I’m not. You use that word, but you don’t know what it means. That implies that to some degree I am not aware, or at least not fully cognizant, of my own violent tendencies. I am fully aware. I know I’m a bad person. I can’t change that. You’re just as bad as I am for being unwilling to understand that.”

“Do not say I’m as bad as you are!” 3 shouted, seeming to have killing intent in her voice. “I will never be on your level.”

“You say that, but are you really sure? One day...we will all be the same. We will all be dust in the wind. And at the core of everything, we are all made of the same atoms. We are made of the same matter. We’re all the same in reality.”

“That makes no fucking sense!” 8 screamed. “You’re saying we’re the same as you on a technicality. What kind of victim complex-ass bullshit are you fucking talking about?”

“Language. You’re being very confrontative right now.” Tartar laughed.

“Maybe because you’ve imprisoned us!” 8 responded. “Why are you acting like we understand anything you say? You think that in some way, we’re on the same level. Intellectually, you seem top of the line. But common sense? Empathy? You’re really lacking all that.”

“You’re right. I’m lacking that for sure. But do I need it? Not for the job I’m doing. I just need to be smart...right?” His voice cut out, leaving the group in peace.

“Fucking finally,” Dakota said with relief. “I hate hearing his voice. He sounds like he’s always gargling a big load of-”

“Language!” Cuttlefish shouted.

“I was going to say crap,” She stated. She wasn’t.

“So, young lady, what is your number?”

“I d-don’t want an old man calling me.”

“No! I meant your subject number!”

“Oh! I’m Subject 10,004.”

“Perfect! You can be Agent 4! Maybe we’ll even find an Agent 5 while we’re down here!”

“No,” 8 stated. “We’re not. Don’t talk about it any further.”

“D-did you meet a 10,00-”

“No further!” 8 shouted.

“Oh, I met that guy!” Dakota exclaimed. “Was he like, the big muscley boy? Cause like, he creeped me the fuck out. Always stared at me. And not even the hot kind of stare, but like the ‘I’m going to eat your children in twenty years’ kind of stare.”

“That’s a really specific description,” 3 stated.

“It’s accurate. No further discussion.” 8 said.

“So you say he was big, but how big was he?” Cuttlefish asked.

“Oh Cod, he was like...seven feet tall. Maybe taller, even? He looked like he would eat me whole if I talked to him. Not even exaggerating.” Dakota answered. “Also, you said this thing about being Agent 4? Is that like being a secret agent? Do I get a hot costume?”

“Yes, it is being a secret agent! And if you call a hand-me-down reflective jacket a hot costume then sure!” 3 exclaimed. “It chafes like fucking, nothing else. I had a rash after wearing it for too long! Also it smells terrible no matter how much I wash it. Like, what were the other Agents doing in it? Was Marie just like...sweating like a fountain in it? Did she get athlete’s foot of the torso?”

“Alright, you’re making this sound really unappealing. I think I’ll turn the offer down.” 

“You get guns though,” Cuttlefish said.

“Oh shit, I’m in! Wait, are they nice guns?” Dakota crossed her arms.

“They’re the ‘killing people’ kind. You can’t use them in Turf War, but-” 3 was interrupted.

“Don’t know what Turf War is, so I’m in for the fact they’re lethally dangerous guns.”

“We officially have our Agent 4!” Cuttlefish shouted. “I guess we could still find an Agent 5, just not...10,005.”

“Yeah, definitely not him...he’s dead. No further discussion.” 8 smiled and nodded.

“8, do you know what ‘no further discussion’ means?” 3 asked.

“Yes, it means we stop talking about it.”

“Okay, but you keep adding to it whenever you say not to discuss it further.”

“Well I wouldn’t have to keep adding to it if you stopped discussing it!”

“Fair point.”

“Ow, fuck! I accidentally shot myself in the boob!” Pearl yelled.

“Well at least the swelling will make them look bigger.” Marina joked.

“Fuck you!”

“Later.”

“...Wait, Marina the mic is on. It wasn’t on while I was playing with my new BB-gun right?”

“Pearlie, there’s a little ball next to the unmute button. I think you...I think you shot it. How the fuck do you shoot yourself in the boob and hit a microphone button with pinpoint precision?”

“Cod made me the ultimate bad bitch.”

“If you mean ‘bad’ as in ‘bad at aiming’ then you’re right.”

“At least I didn’t end up shoving a-”

“Pearl! Not now! Mic is on!”

“What? It’s not like it’s-”

“Pearl.”

“Yes, dear.”

“You are both the most embarrassing people I’ve ever met.” 8 stated. “I love you though.”

“Are you talking to us?” Marina asked. “It’s not my fault Pearl’s-”

“That I’m what?” Pearl said.

“That you’re like that.”

“Listen, I’m the richest person in this fucking city I can be however I want.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing.”

“You’re lucky you’re the love of my life.”

“And you’re the love of mine.” The two of them broke out into laughter.

“Guys, come on. We’ve got to be serious.” 8 remarked. “I know you’re lesbians deeply in love, but there’s other pressing matters.”

A soft buzzing suddenly came to 8’s attention. For a moment, she assumed it was Tartar getting ready to give her another oh-so-pleasant monologue. But then she realized the buzzing was not coming from her earpiece. In fact, it seemed to be emanating from outside the train.

“Uh, do you guys hear that?” 8 asked the others. “Like...is there a fly in here?”

“I sure hope not,” CQ stated, readying a fly swatter.

“Is that what that buzzing is? A fly?” 3 wondered aloud. “I just assumed it was some faulty wiring.”

“Wiring never sounds like that in my experience,” 8 said.

“...” 3 and Cuttlefish stared at her in silence. “Your experience consists of literally today.” They stated in unison.

“H-hey, I remember a lot of little things! Like fixing machines and stuff...I guess.” 8 laughed nervously. “This can’t be anything too serious though, right?”

Something large slammed against the window, before loudly scuttling to the top of the train. Whatever it was had left behind a large splattering of goo on the glass.

“I should keep my mouth shut.” 8 pressed her hand over her eyes and sighed.

“Do you think that was the thing that was buzzing?” Dakota asked.

“Well assuming everything down here likes to make hellish noises, I would assume so.” 3 laughed, attempting to hide the fact that she clearly did not like the situation.

Simultaneously, the other soft buzzing filled everyone’s ears. Tartar was clearly ready to speak about this.

“I have some good news and bad news. Which would you like first?” Tartar asked, sounding as emotional as always.

“T-the good?” 8 responded.

“Well, I just finished a big project of mine. It’s something special and I think you’ll all love it.”

“What’s the bad news?”

“Well, it got out. Maybe on purpose. But how would I know?”

“You run this facility, asshole!” 3 shouted.

“Oh right. I do, don’t I?” Tartar’s audio immediately went silent.

“If I die, all of you better give me a good funeral,” Dakota stated.

“Well, that won’t happen if we all die,” 8 said.

The loud sound of scraping metal ensued as something sliced its way through the top of the car. A long, slender chitinous blade was viciously attempting to tear its way through. A second blade soon followed.

“There it fucking is!” 3 exclaimed. “Maybe we should get out of here.”

“Nonsense, the train will not stop early!” CQ shouted. “I have the schedule memorized in depth and I will not allow it to be violated by some scoundrels!”

“This is not the time, grandpa!” Dakota screamed.

“I am a young man,” CQ responded.

The roof of the car was peeled away like a can of anchovies. Everything was quiet for a moment, the group staring at the gaping hole. They cautiously looked around, hoping this thing would not sneak up on them. CQ was lifted up into the air by an invisible force and violently ripped in two. His insides were loudly slurped out by whatever entity had done so. The beast showed itself, its obnoxiously bright red body becoming visible. It looked like it was an Octoling, but below the head its body was more slender and it had more limbs than an Octoling would. Its mouth hung open wide, revealing an array of cutting chelicerae emerging from inside. A dripping, goo-covered tongue dangled from its mouth. When the goo touched the floor, it burned a hole through the metal. The twelve long limbs along its body were surprisingly bulky, ending in gripping claws. It had two forelimbs ending in curved blade-like structures. It stared at the group, its body pulsing. The beast let out a loud groan as an egg emerged from the end of its abdomen. The egg was coated in a thick, clear fluid. The surface looked soft, and it was throbbing.

“Nope, don’t like that,” 8 stated.

“Kill that thing! Now!” Dakota screeched in fear, balling up in the corner.

“Well, looks like this knife is going to come in handy…” 8 whispered. “Now I just have to get close to the damned thing.” She would prefer not to, but she didn’t really have a choice in this scenario.

“Okay, so what if I distract it?” 3 asked. “Then, while it’s going after me, you can jump on its back and stab it to death.”

“That’s a good plan...at least it sounds like one.” 8 responded. “Just try not to die.”

“That’s been my plan the entire time I’ve been down here. My only plan, even.” 

“Wow, mine too.”

“Will you two get a move on?” Cuttlefish shouted quietly.

“Alright, I’ll try to get it to turn around. Then when it’s facing me, I want you to leap on it.” 3 put her hand on 8’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes. “You understand?”

“Yes. Then I kill it until it dies.” 8 said.

“I sure hope killing it makes it die.” 3 laughed in fear.

3 calmly approached the creature, which stood still and stared.

“H-hey there. So uh...you come here often?” 3 asked weakly, hoping to get its attention.

“You’re trying to kill it, not date it,” 8 whispered.

“Hey, I have a charm and it works,” 3 whispered back.

The creature pressed its head to 3’s side, almost affectionately. It extended its tongue from its mouth and pressed it against her arm. The saliva began to aggressively eat through the material her sleeve was composed of.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” 3 shouted, taking her knife and cutting her sleeve off. Some of it had made its way through, leaving burns on her skin.

“I like you,” The creature said.

“Oh...y-you can speak?” 

“Of course I can. Did you think I was stupid?” It laughed. “You can call me Subject 9,260. I’ve been here a loooong time.” It sounded...happy.

“O-oh really? I never would have guessed. You seem so...so y-young.”

“Listen here. You seem a perfect vessel for my eggs.”

“Nope, don’t like that,” 3 said out loud. “Oh wait, did I just say that?”

“Well it doesn’t really matter if you like it, just if your flesh is viable material for my larvae.”

“Charming. Is that h-how you hit on all the ladies?”

“No, how I hit on the ladies is impaling a hard blade through their flesh and inserting my eggs into their internals.”

“...Ah?”

“You know, I heard your little plan. ‘Kill me to death,’ was it? Well if not for how impressively stupid that sentence was, it would be an extremely unimpressive plan.”

“3. Run.” 8 said.

“Good idea!” 3 shouted. 

The group turned their backs and ran as fast as they could into the next car, 8 grabbing Dakota and pulling her along.. The creature attempted to slam one of its bladed forelimbs down onto 3 before she could escape, but missed by a hair.

“Alright, motherfuckers, you better come back here!” It screamed at the top of its lungs, slamming its forelimbs together.

One car over, 8 and 3 pushed chairs that had freed themselves from the floor thanks to years of disrepair in front of the door. 

“Alright, this should slow it down!” 3 said. One of the creature’s blades sliced through the door like butter. “Well looks like that’s not slowing it down. Keep running!”

Without hesitation, they fled into the next car. Another CQ was waiting there.

“Hello, are you all parched?” He asked. The creature tore through the door.

“I’m sorry about this,” 3 stated. She picked up CQ and threw him at the beast. He hit its face with a soft smack.

“Oh hello, 9,260. How are you on this fine day?”

“Shut up.” It gripped him in ones of its graspers and crushed him into goo. “So many of these little shits. Filthy insects.”

As the group opened the door to head into the next car, they found themselves at a dead end. The only way out would be to jump onto the train tracks, which would result in death.

“Alright, I’ll go first,” 3 said. “If I make it, that means its safe for you guys to jump too. If I don’t make it, maybe you’re better off-”

“Okay, no,” Dakota stated. “Are you saying we should all just jump onto the train tracks?”

“No, I was saying that if I die, maybe you all could come up with a plan better than mine.”

“Fuck this, I am not letting a giant bug lead me to my death.” Dakota pulled her gun from her waist and turned to face the beast. “Yo, bitch! You think you’re so fuckin’ tough, huh?”

“Wow, the first person to speak up against me and it’s the little hussie looking one.” It laughed. “What can you do?”

“Well, insect legs are jointed. Rather obviously jointed. So…” She raised her gun and shot out the joints one of its legs, causing it to stumble over. “And for good measure…” She quickly tore the gun from 8’s waist and proceeded to shoot out the rest of the legs on its left side.

“Oh, you little whore, you think that’s going to keep me down?!” It shouted, letting out hisses of pain as it collapsed.

“You really have no creative insults.” Dakota laughed. “Also, why do you assume I’m a whore? You must really have no experience with anyone, huh? We’re all dressed like this down here...even the old man.”

“Yeah!” Cuttlefish shouted. “Let me tell you, the breeze is nice.”

“Too much information,” 3 said.

“You’re all gross, disgusting insects.” It said with venom.

“Ironic, cause that’s what you are,” Dakota responded, smiling. “Now I think we’re done here.” She unloaded multiple shots into its head, until it stopped even twitching.

“Glad that’s taken care of,” 8 admitted, letting out a deep sigh of relief.

“You didn’t kill my beautiful creation, did you?” Tartar asked. He almost sounded like his voice had a semblance of emotion.

“Well what else were we going to do?!” They all asked in unison.

“You make a good point. But let me tell you that you murdered the future of your kind. I created this beast to breed at a rate faster than your pitiful bodies could muster. I was going to bring about a new age for life on this planet.”

“So, you basically made it for no reason?” 8 said.

“Everything has a reason to exist.”

“This doesn’t sound like it needed to exist,” 3 added.

“...I’m going to take my leave now. I have much better things to do than be disrespected by lowly subjects like you.”

“Alright bitch, have it your way,” Dakota laughed.

The group stood there in silence, unsure of how to celebrate the fact they were still alive. 

“Can we just sleep now?” 8 asked softly.

“Sounds like a plan,” 3 responded. She sat down and nearly immediately fell asleep.

Cuttlefish was already lying on the floor, snoring loudly.

“I think I’ll stay up in case anything goes wrong, if that’s okay.” Dakota stated.

“That’s very nice of you, thank you,” 8 said. She laid across a few seats and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep.


End file.
